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HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 




HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE, D. D., LL. D. 



HENRY LYMAN 
MOREHOUSE 



H ffiiostapbi? 



By 
LATHAN A. CRANDALL, D. D. 



PHILADELPHIA 

The American Baptist Publication Society 



BOSTON 

LOS ANGELES 



CHICAGO 
KANSAS CITY 



ST. LOUIS 
SEATTLE 



NEW YORK 
TORONTO 



.4^^ 



^itc. 



Copyright, 1919, by 
GILBERT N, BRINK, Secretary 



Published March, 1919 



©CI.A55y281 



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ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



In the preparation of this volume, the author has re- 
ceived invaluable aid from the friends of Doctor More- 
house. Dr. Charles L. White and Dr. Lemuel C. Barnes, 
intimately associated with Doctor Morehouse for many 
years, have made valuable suggestions and have furnished 
important material. Many letters written by Doctor 
Morehouse in connection with the founding of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago were made available through the 
courtesy of Dr. T. W. Goodspeed. Miss Finette B. Nich- 
ols, because of her association with Doctor Morehouse 
for fifteen years as his secretarj^, has been especially help- 
ful in making clear his ideals and character. Mr. Ezra 
B. Morehouse and his daughter Mrs. Webb, brother and 
niece of Doctor Morehouse, placed in the hands of the 
author a great mass of important material consisting of 
letters, clippings, diaries, et cetera, covering the whole 
period of Doctor Morehouse's active life. 

To these friends the author extends the assurance of 
his deep gratitude for their most helpful cooperation. 

L. A. C. 

Minneapolis, January, 1919. 



INTRODUCTION 



I FIRST knew Doctor Morehouse in the early eighties 
when he took me by the hand in such way as to make 
me forever after his friend. His greatness at once im- 
pressed me, his friendship at once gripped me, his fine 
manfulness gained my respect and admiration, his mani- 
fest interest and confidence in the young gave me courage 
and high resolve. There are many hundreds of men who 
could say all this and who with me regard the friend- 
ship of Henry L. Morehouse as one of life's greatest 
rewards. 

He was a large man generously endowed with all at- 
tributes of true greatness. He did not live in a world of 
trifles but dwelt always with the immortals. He was a 
great Secretary, but he would have been equally great in 
the commercial world, in education, or in statecraft. He 
had rare tenderness, delicate sympathy, refined tastes, 
generous fellowships. He gave himself without reserve 
to the service of his fellow men. He loved mankind and 
he loved every man. He cultivated what President Eliot 
felicitously calls " the enduring satisfactions of life." And 
how he did enjoy life! What a big portion of human 
blessedness he gained for himself because he had learned 
that it is more blessed to give than to receive. This leads 
us to the fundamental secret of his greatness — he was a 
disciple of Jesus, a friend of our greatest Friend. He 
lived with him in holy fellowship and gave constantly to 
others the inspiration he gained daily from close compan- 
ionship with Christ. Let us never forget that this was the 
hiding of his power, 



INTRODUCTION 

He was a great honest soul. Incapable of duplicity, 
he was not lacking in diplomacy. He had great skill in 
securing advantages that properly belonged to him and 
his cause; he was master of the high art of managing 
men and affairs. He measured swords with the best but 
always looked his antagonist squarely in the eye. 

He was a man of deep convictions from which he could 
not be swerved. Bravely did he always defend those con- 
victions, with strong logic, with fine oratory, and with a 
command of the situation which carried conviction and 
assent. When aroused, what a masterful debater he was ! 

And he was gentle too, tender and affectionate with a 
sweetness the memory of which brings tears to one's eyes. 
In the home he won the confidence of little children, and 
joyed in their companionship. His conversation with 
them was not condescending though it was simple, and he 
left them bigger in soul for having spent an hour with 
him. When he came to one's church to speak the whole 
tone of the people was lifted up and the responsibilities of 
the Christian life were felt more deeply. When one trav- 
eled with him on long journeys every hour was filled with 
earnest talk of things important, and one gained a new 
grasp of the responsibility of living. And it was all 
sweetened with delightful companionship, humanized 
with poetry and even song. Every friend of his must 
trace holy impulse and aspiration to that high friendship. 
,■ Yes, he had faults, but I do not recall what they were ; 
who " marks the scar on the tall pine which outtops them 
all"? 

Wallace Buttrick. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

I. The Early Years i 

11. College and Seminary Days 17 

III. Pastoral Work 34 

IV. Corresponding Secretary — First Period . . 52 
V. Field Secretary 72 

VI. Corresponding Secretary — Second Period . 99 

VII. By-products 122 

VIII. Preacher and Poet 145 

IX. Sunset 181 

X. Behind the Curtain 193 

XL Appreciations 207 



Si'-n-niiT.B*. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

Henry Lyman Morehouse, D. D., LL. D Frontispiece ^ 

Seth S. Morehouse. About 18^6 6 

Genesee Wesleyan Seminary 14 ^^ 

H. L. Morehouse, 1858 and 1864 24-- 

East Saginaw Baptist Church. Built during Doctor 
Morehouse's Ministry 38 

Original East Saginaw Church. Building owned by 
Deacon Webber 38 " 

Doctor Morehouse in 18/8 48 ^ 

Emma Bentley Morehouse. About 1836 66 

Doctor Morehouse in igoy 158 

Dutchess County Homestead 188' 

Birthplace of Henry L. Morehouse 196 ' 

» 



HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 



THE EARLY YEARS 

ONE of the most delightful of modern stories purports 
to be the biography of a baby that died when only 
a year old. This story is not a recital of the baby's 
beauty of face and form or of his cunning ways, but 
sets forth the effect which he produced upon those who 
came to know him. A woman of middle age, soured 
and seemingly without even the capacity for love, is 
softened and made human. The life of a crippled girl 
is filled with sunshine. A somewhat rough and lawless 
American painter is made more tender and manly. A 
thievish mountaineer is turned into a law-abiding citizen. 
A wealthy girl learns from the baby the true values in 
life. In brief, it is a story of influence; unconscious, 
indeed, but strong and ennobling. 

Who shall say just what influence has been exerted 
by any human life? The inability to make accurate 
measurement of the meaning for the world of a given 
liian or woman, makes the work of the biographer diffi- 
cult and unsatisfactory. His material, written or un- 
written, furnishes only a skeleton that must be clothed 
and made vital. He is conscious that the life of which 
he writes had values for society which were not re- 
corded save in human souls. He may not give free 

I 



2 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

rein to his imagination as does the novelist, for he deals 
with facts. The task of adequate portrayal assumes 
formidable proportions when we are dealing with one 
who played such a part in the life of his time as did 
Henry Lyman Morehouse. He was incessantly active, 
and his activities were directed toward high ends. He 
touched many lives and was a large factor in many im- 
portant movements. At the best, one can hope to do 
no more than to present his public services in such man- 
ner as will reveal spirit and purpose, and help the reader 
to an appreciation of the manner of man he was and to 
some comprehension of the unrecorded ministry of 
which his life was so full. 

Most people believe that " blood will tell " and so are 
interested in knowing something of the ancestry of one 
who has accomplished large things. Tradition has it 
that Thomas Morehouse, founder of the Morehouse 
family in America, came from Scotland a little before 
the middle of the seventeenth century, and settled in 
Stamford, Connecticut. The fact that the name was 
formerly " Muir-house " gives probability to the tradi- 
tion of Scottish descent. Dr. John R. Brown, in his 
address at the memorial service for Doctor Morehouse 
held in connection with the meeting of the Northern 
Baptist Convention at Cleveland in May, 1917, gave the 
following charming picture of the Morehouse family in 
Southwestern Connecticut : 

The ancestral rock whence Henry Lyman Morehouse was 
hewn was a large one, and held in Its complex many well-known 
families of Western Connecticut, and particularly of Fairfield 
County. 

He was very proud of the ancestral line which had come from 
the first Morehouse in this country, Thomas Morehouse, or as 
the name was spelled in those days, Muirhouse, a Scotch Cove- 



THE EARLY YEARS 3 

nanter who stoutly declined to conform, who refused finally to be 
persecuted any longer by King Charles and Laud, and who, to 
give his soul and his faith a breathing space, came to the Con- 
necticut Colony about 1640. In 1655 he definitely located in 
Fairfield, where the Morehouse name has been prominent ever 
since. 

The Morehouses in Connecticut have been a prolific and sturdy 
race in all the collateral lines. To-day the Morehouse name 
in Western Connecticut is carried by farmers, lawyers, teachers, 
and many men of affairs. In the old Fairfield Burying Ground 
the titles and degrees on many stones covering Morehouses tell 
how large a part they had in the making of a fine New England 
community. Morehouses had an honorable share in the Revo- 
lutionary War, and some of them are given honorable mention 
for the defense of Fairfield when the town was burned by the 
English general Tryon. 

In all the branches of the family the Morehouses have been 
a religious folk. There is scarcely a Congregational church in 
Fairfield County which does not contain the name of More- 
house on its roll. At one time, within recent years, the Con- 
gregational church of Fairfield had three deacons by the name 
of Morehouse. The minister of that church recalls them as 
men of fine ability and stubborn convictions. 

It is easy to see that the characteristics of the original Thomas 
Morehouse have perpetuated themselves; and, above all, that 
Henry Lyman Morehouse had the Scotchman Thomas as his 
spiritual father. 

The Baptist inheritance begins with the founding of the Baptist 
church in Stratfield in 1751. As Doctor Morehouse always took 
great interest in this little church, and as he often laughingly 
said that but for it he would never have been a Baptist, its 
early histor>', knitted in as it is with the Morehouse name, is 
worth sketching. 

The Prime Ancient Society of Fairfield, as the Congregational 
church in Fairfield was called, had the legal right to collect 
tithes from all within its parish bounds, whether they were mem- 
bers or adherents of the church or not. But about the middle 
of the eighteenth century George Whitfield and his followers 
began the New Light movement in the New England colonies, 
and thousands in and out of the churches, then called The Stand- 
ing Order, were either converted or reawakened. These more 



4 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

spiritually minded people found themselves in conflict with the 
accepted order in the churches; and when they could no longer 
feed their faith or enlarge their service in the established 
churches they began to withdraw, and to form churches of their 
own. One of the first demands they made was that all tithes 
for the support of the Standing Order be either remitted or 
abolished. In some cases this was done; but the quarrel over 
tithes was not finally settled till the Standing Order was itself 
abolished by the disestablishment of the churches in 1818. 

A group of Fairfield farmers withdrew from the Congre- 
gational church at Fairfield in 1751, and organized, under the 
influence of the New Light Movement, a church at Stratfield, 
then one of the districts of the Fairfield parish, but to-day a 
part of the rapidly growing city of Bridgeport. The name of 
Isaac Morehouse, Doctor Morehouse's great grandfather, is on 
the list of the first members of the Stratfield church. The pres- 
ence of that name in such a place is testimony of a quiet and 
stedfast heroism. The New Lights were a despised people, 
socially ostracized, and frequently hampered and embarrassed 
even in the simplest business relations. 

The old records reveal what that little church stood for. At 
the time of its founding there was no other Baptist church west 
of the Connecticut River. Eastern Connecticut had been a 
spillway for the Baptists of Rhode Island, and in that section 
of the State they had some standing and strength. But in 
Western Connecticut it was and continued to be another story. 

The little church at Stratfield, formed as the result of a spir- 
itual protest, deliberately voted to become a Baptist church, al- 
though at the time the nearest Baptist church was over a hundred 
miles away, and not one of the members had ever had anything 
to do with Baptists. They became Baptists on the basis of spir- 
itual principle. Their reasons are set forth in a remarkable docu- 
ment called "The Sentiments and Plan of the Baptist Society 
of Stratfield." 

In speaking of the Early Church the statement says, " She 
never had or claimed any right to make men act, profess, or 
support any religion or worship different from what they have, 
for such Is that which subsists alone between God and the souls 
of men." In the same document the subscribers tell why they 
became Baptists : " We, therefore, whose names are hereunto 
subscribed, believing that the Society of Christians commonly 



THE EARLY YEARS 5 

denominated Baptists, their faith and their practice to be most 
agreeable to the above description and divine rule of any de- 
nomination of Christians among us, do by voluntary consent set 
our names to this agreement as a token." 

The Stratfield church has never in its long history had more 
than one hundred members, but in one hundred and seventy 
years it has been the mother or grandmother of sixteen other 
churches — among them the strong churches, Bridgeport First, 
South Norwalk, and Danbury. As the mother of churches and 
the producer of strong men the Stratfield church has had a 
remarkable history. Does not its origin explain its power of 
multiplication and the type of members it has produced? 

The Morehouses are soon heard from in the affairs of the 
church in Stratfield. In their preliminary statement to the world 
the church in Stratfield had bound themselves by this agreement, 
" to see that the liberality of the Society be punctually bestowed 
on their teacher." " Liberality " was the fine old New England 
word for the salary of the minister: it did not always mean 
quite as it sounds to us to-day. We read of a Morehouse 
circulating a subscription paper "to obtain support for preach- 
ing." In 1816 Lyman Morehouse as moderator of the society has 
this shrewd bit of policy passed to cover a period when the 
church was without a pastor : " that we will give those preachers 
whom we invite to come and preach with us five dollars that 
they preach with us, and that those who happen to come along 
accidentally shall receive whatever is contributed." It is re- 
corded that Lyman Morehouse and Samuel Morehouse are a 
society's committee to collect the money. Then we read of 
Samuel Morehouse as a pulpit committee all by himself. 

When an attempt was made in 1820, after the disestablishment 
of Congregationalism as the state church, to continue state aid 
under another form by offering it to all the churches of every 
name, Lyman Morehouse presided at a meeting of the Stratfield 
church which passed this resolution: "That we do not wish to 
receive any part of the money granted to the Baptist denom- 
ination by the Legislature of this State, in their late act for the 
support of Literature and Religion." 

From the rolls of the church in Stratfield we learn from 
1820 on members were moving to New York State. A number 
of them settled in Dutchess County. The lands of New York 
were more fertile than the hillsides of Connecticut, even if 



6 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

those hills were consecrated by nearly two hundred years of 
simple life and holy memory. The grandfather and father of 
Doctor Morehouse followed the lure. We read in the rolls of 
the church how in 1825 the church voted "a letter of com- 
mendation" to the grandfather. 

A fine ancestry, an honorable family in all its lines, a spiritual 
inheritance of honesty, independence, and courage, a continuous 
family leadership from generation to generation — these make 
the story of the Connecticut Morehouses and the old Stratfield 
church necessary to an adequate appreciation of the man who 
was statesman of the American Baptists for a generation. 

Lyman Morehouse, the grandfather of Henry L., 
moved from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Dutchess County, 
New York, early in the nineteenth century, when 
Henry's father, Seth Seeley Morehouse, was a boy. 
The family settled upon a farm of two hundred and fifty 
acres, situated five miles from Bangall, and Lyman 
Morehouse and his wife united with the Baptist church 
at that place. On this farm Seth Seeley Morehouse grew 
to manhood, and to this home he brought his bride, 
Emma Bentley. Here Henry L. Morehouse was born, 
October 2, 1834. The only other child of this union was 
Ezra B., bom September, 1836. 

Emma Bentley was descended from William Bentley, 
who came from Kent, England, to Massachusetts, in 
1635. This family furnished to New England a large 
number of eminent clergymen, and of brave soldiers not 
a few. 

That boy is richly blessed of God who lives where 
Nature has a chance to speak to him. The fields and 
the woods, the birds and the streams, the flowers and 
the unsmirched sky perform a ministry of incalculable 
value. The lad on the Dutchess County farm learned 
the songs of the wood-thrush and the wren, and wor- 
shiped before the beauty of the apple-blossom and the 




SETH S. MOREHOUSE 
About 1856 



1 



m 



THE EARLY YEARS 7 

meadow-violet. He was " a barefoot boy with cheek 
of tan," rejoicing in the exuberance of boyhood and in 
the Hmitless discoveries open to the dweller in the coun- 
try. Did he wash dishes for his mother? The answer 
is not heard; but in a family lacking girls and with his 
mother's many duties, it is safe to assume that on some 
occasions, at least, Henry was pressed into domestic 
service. In after years he was fond of relating his ex- 
perience in helping his mother to paper one of the rooms 
of the farmhouse. Doubtless this was but one among 
many experiences in which the boy did his " bit " in the 
many home tasks. He must have hunted the field- 
strawberries, filled the wood-box, and performed the 
varied " chores " without which a country boy's educa- 
tion is incomplete. Thinking of the winters, one cannot 
help wondering if he had a " jumper," made from the 
staves of a defunct barrel, on which he coasted down 
the steep hillsides. Did he labor long and hard digging 
out woodchucks that, with the oil extracted from the 
fat, he might keep his boots pliable? Did he play 
'' fox-and-geese " and " tit-tat-to " and " pom-pom-pull- 
away " ? All these things featured the life of the coun- 
try boy in the middle of the last century; and Henry 
was a country boy. 

Fortunately we are not compelled to depend upon the 
imagination for pictures of the Sunday School and the 
district school in New York State, seventy-five years 
ago. The Sunday School which young Morehouse at- 
tended was that of the Bangall Baptist Church. On a 
Sunday the Morehouse family would drive the five miles 
between their home and the village church, attend the 
preaching service in the forenoon, then the Sunday 
School, and after that the second preaching service in 
the afternoon. Whether or not this church was pro- 



8 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

vided with a " noon-house " in which the people gath- 
ered to eat their lunches, the records do not say. With- 
out doubt the lunches were carried and consumed, that 
fact being more important, especially to the youngsters, 
than the place where they were eaten. As we look back 
upon the Sunday School of that time the most notice- 
able feature is the absence of " helps." Quarterlies and 
leaflets and notes upon the lesson are inventions of 
more recent times. The church people of that day 
really supposed that a Bible School was for the study 
of the Bible. Another of their convictions, which we 
have largely outgrown, was one that had to do with 
committing passages of the Bible to memory. Each 
scholar was expected to memorize at least seven verses 
each week, and to come to Sunday School prepared to 
give them without stumbling or hesitation. It would be 
safe to assert that the passages from the Bible with 
which Doctor Morehouse was most familiar were those 
which he committed to memory as a lad in Sunday 
School. 

Perhaps the less said about the Sunday School music 
of that day the better. In fact there were no Sunday 
School hymns as distinct from those used in the regular 
church service. William A. Bradbury had not yet writ- 
ten " Joyfully, joyfully, onward we move," or even be- 
gun the work which ushered in a new day for Sunday 
School singing. As a rule the churches of that time 
used corpulent, leather-bound, little hymn-books, con- 
taining only the words. Whatever singing there was in 
the Sunday School service simply repeated the hymns 
used in the regular church service. It may not be as- 
serted truthfully that the children of that day found any 
large measure of enjoyment in carolling "Hark! from 
the tombs a doleful sound." 



THE EARLY YEARS 9 

Changes have been wrought in the district school quite 
as striking as those which have taken place in the Sunday 
School. As a rule, the country schoolhouse of the middle 
of the nineteenth century had benches running around 
three sides of the room. Frequently these benches were 
slabs, with the smooth sides uppermost, supported by 
rude legs driven into the bench through large auger- 
holes. Attached to the wall was a long desk on each 
of the thr^e sides of the room, and when engaged in 
study — real or supposed — the scholar faced the desk. 
In the center of the room was a box-stove, fuel for 
which was furnished by the parents of the scholars, in 
proportion to the number of children attending school 
from each family. It was in such a school that young 
Henry began his education. Across the years we can 
see the bright, alert little lad as he makes his way, 
dinner-pail in hand, to the isolated schoolhouse, and 
hear him as he confidently declares to his teacher that 
" Three cherries and two cherries make five cherries," 
or as he wrestles more or less successfully with the diffi- 
culties of the multiplication table. On a shelf near the 
door was the water-pail, and at least twice each day some 
lad or small maiden would beg the privilege of going after 
water. As this excursion involved the services of two 
children, loitering was not entirely unknown. The pres- 
ence of freshly drawn water always created a thirst, and 
when the snapping fingers of some child had attracted the 
'attention of the teacher, " Please ma'am, may I pass the 
water? " was followed by the watering of the flock from 
the common drinking-cup. Germs had not been discov- 
ered, and fear of microbes was unknown. 

Because of the poor quality of teachers employed in 
the public school, Henry and his brother attended a pri- 
vate school for a part of the time. This school was held 



10 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

in a building belonging to their uncle, Gilbert Bentley. 
Grandmother Bentley's loom-room became an educational 
institution and, temporarily at least, the weaving of char- 
acter was substituted for the weaving of blankets. This 
building is still standing. 

On April i, 1846, a little before Henry's twelfth birth- 
day, the family moved to East Avon, New York. Here 
Seth Morehouse had purchased a farm of something over 
two hundred and fifty-seven acres. The farm buildings 
were of exceptional excellence and three-fourths of tlie 
land was under cultivation. The new home was in the 
Genesee valley, famous for its beauty and fertility. The 
journey to the new home was a great adventure, not only 
to Henry and his brother Ezra, but to all the neighbors 
and friends as well. The larger part of the household 
goods went by the Erie canal to Rochester, and then 
by the Genesee Valley canal to their destination. A 
stove, and such other articles as would be needed imme- 
diately upon their arrival, were loaded into a lumber 
wagon drawn by a span of horses and driven by a col- 
ored man. The family made the journey in a " demo- 
crat " wagon drawn by one horse. 

When the morning came for their departure a large 
number of friends gathered to bid them farewell, so- 
bered by the conviction that this adieu would be final. 
Were they not going " out west " where bears and 
wolves formed a large part of the population? To the 
boys, with their bulldog, this journey was a constant 
delight. They were breaking into the unknown. At 
night they stopped at some farmhouse or wayside inn, 
and when noon came the horses were fed and the lunch 
eaten wherever they chanced to be. Sometimes walking 
up a steep hill, sometimes riding, constantly looking upon 
unfamiliar scenery, wondering what surprise was in 



THE EARLY YEARS II 

store for them just around the next turn in the road, 
the boys made of this journey a hilarious holiday. 

Settled in the new home, the young Henry continued 
his education in the district school situated only a short 
distance from the Morehouse farm. It was before the 
art of spelling had fallen into a state of innocuous 
desuetude, and at many a spelling-school Heni-y showed 
his prowess by '* spelling down " the champion from a 
neighboring district. 

Doubtless we have made great progress in methods of 
education since those days. Pedagogy had not then be- 
come an exact science, and nothing was heard of child 
psychology. It cannot be denied, however, that the old- 
time school had points of excellence, all of which possibly 
have not been carried over into the present system. The 
pupil in the district school of fifty years ago learned 
some things thoroughly. The curriculum was not ex- 
tended but it was definite. " Line upon line, precept 
upon precept," made it well-nigh impossible for the 
scholar to escape the assimilation of a fair degree of 
knowledge concerning arithmetic, geography, and spell- 
ing, even if he was in dense ignorance concerning some 
of the adornments familiar to children of the present 
generation. On the whole, the district school of yester- 
day furnished a very fair foundation for subsequent 
scholastic work. 

The Morehouse family reached their new home early 
in April, and the following June Henry wrote a letter to 
his grandparents. Fortunately, this letter has been pre- 
served, and is reproduced here as revealing the interests 
of the boy, not yet twelve years of age: 

East Avon, June 24, 1846. 
My dear Grandparents : It is with pleasure I once more write 
to you. We are all well at present. We should like to see you 



12 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

very much. We want you to come out here very much. Ezra B. 
and I go to school every day except when Pa wants us. Pa has 
got a pair of steers to help the oxen in ploughing Ezra B. stays 
home one part of the day and I the other part of the day when 
Pa wants us to drive oxen. I have got twelve turkeys and they 
grow nicely. We have got a fine bunch of chickens, and if you 
will come out here after harvest, we will have some of them 
to eat. It has been very dry and we have had not much rain 
until last week, we had a fine rain which made the things look 
fresh and green. . . The pigs grow nicely and if you don't take 
care we will beat you. Pa gave Uncle William the smallest 
pig and they fatted and killed it and Aunt Merilda roasted 
part of it and they gave us an invitation to come over and help 
eat it. We went over there and took dinner and brought home 
a quarter of it, it was first rate. I like it very much here, but we 
miss the cherries very much, we have got apples in plenty and 
we have got a bunch of young peach trees, the peaches have 
nearly all dropped off. I must now bring my letter to a close. 
I still remain your affectionate grandson, 

Henry L. Morehouse. 

Life on a farm, for a growing boy, may seem some- 
what tame and uninteresting, and it certainly means 
plenty of hard work. But, somehow, it furnishes a 
preparation for life that enables these same country lads 
to go far. Among those who have accomplished things 
and have made a large place for themselves in public 
life, at least a fair proportion have spent their early 
years upon the farm. Their success is due, in part at 
least, to the fact that they have been held responsible for 
doing certain, specified tasks. When the growth of a 
sense of responsibility keeps pace with the growth of the 
body, the boy is being fitted for the duties of after life 
as no amount of theoretical instruction can prepare him. 
The boys on the Morehouse farm had their " chores " 
to do which might not be ignored or neglected. Who 
shall say that the ability for hard and sustained eflFort— 



THE EARLY YEARS I 3 

indeed the appetite for it shown by Henry L. More- 
house in after years — was not due, in no inconsiderable 
measure, to the training received on the East Avon farm ? 

And that Hfe had its recreative side. It was not " all 
work and no play." Corn roasts, husking-bees, coon 
hunts, picnics, church socials, and many other forms of 
innocent pleasure kept Henry from being a " dull boy." 
Strange as it may seem to us who knew him only when 
he had " put away childish things," he went fishing. 
A diary kept during the time between the ending of his 
college course and the beginning of work in the theo- 
logical seminary, tells of his piscatorial adventures as 
follows : March i, i860. " Went fishing all day. Caught 
about 3 bushels of fish : among them 40 pickerel." March 
19. " Went fishing in Horse-shoe Pond. Had good luck. 
Caught over 40 pickerel." April 20. " Went fishing. 
Caught about 40 pickerel, and other fish." May 5. 
" Went fishing at night and fished until about 10 o'c." 
May 26. " Went fishing at the log pond and caught 2 
fish." 

Seth iMorehouse was a contributor to the fund raised 
for the erection of a building in connection with the 
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, five miles from the 
Morehouse home. Through this gift he secured free 
tuition for his boys. At the age of sixteen Henry began 
his studies in this school, preparatory for college. On a 
Thursday morning father and son made their way to the 
seminary, taking with them, among other things, an ax 
and a buck-saw. The school furnished the wood, but 
each student must saw and split whatever was needed to" 
warm his room. Although Henry began his career at the 
seminary on Thursday morning, he walked home on Fri- 
day night. His brother, in recalling thJDse days, writes : 
"' Sunday evening father and I wentl to take him (Henry) 



14 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

back to the Seminary, Henry and I sitting on the back 
seat of the light wagon. When we came in sight of the 
Seminary buildings he said to me, ' I would rather take a 
whipping than to go back there.' I think he walked home 
every Friday evening of that term of school." Possibly 
some who read these words will recall their own dis- 
turbed feelings when first they broke away from the 
quiet of home life, and faced a group of boys and girls, 
all of whom were strangers. 

One is tempted to turn aside just here to call attention 
to the important service rendered by institutions similar 
to that in which young Morehouse spent two years. The 
'' high school " had not come into existence. Work pre- 
paratory for college was done in private institutions, 
many of which were established and controlled by re- 
ligious bodies. A line of such schools stretched across 
New York State. Fort Edward Institute, Fairfield, 
Whitestown, Cazenovia, and Genesee Wesleyan sem- 
inaries, are only a few among the many flourishing 
schools of that time which encouraged young people to 
seek educational training for their life-work, and offered 
excellent opportunities. While young Morehouse did not 
publicly accept Christ while at Genesee Wesleyan Sem- 
inary, we may be sure that he did not escape the re- 
ligious influence exerted by teachers and many of his 
fellow students. Child-conversion was not as common 
then as now, and the fact that Henry did not take a pub- 
lic stand for Christ until in his sophomore year in college, 
is far from indicating any indifference on his part to 
the claims of God upon his life. In an autobiographical 
sketch written for a friend but a few years before his 
death, Doctor Morehouse said, " I had strong religious 
convictions about the age of fifteen, but these wore off." 
For those of his day a profession of religion was a se- 



I 



djf^ :^/^ 



V -«1 







THE EARLY YEARS I 5 

rious matter to be well considered, and was warranted 
only when preceded by a profound sense of sin and an 
experience of the pardoning grace of God. 

From the few records bearing upon his life in this 
school, we catch glimpses of him engaged in the debates 
and other literary exercises of the Lyceum. Some day 
a historian will do justice to the literary societies con- 
nected with those old-time seminaries. In debates and 
declamations and essays and orations, the members 
learned to think straight and express themselves with 
clearness and force. Many young men, afterward suc- 
cessful public speakers, learned to think upon their feet 
in just such organizations as this of which Henry became 
a member soon after entering the school. That this ex- 
perience had its bearing upon his subsequent career as a 
public speaker, who can doubt? 

A letter written to his father while a student at the 
Seminary gives us an insight into his interests and throws 
light upon the life of which he was a part : 

Lima, Monday Evening, Feb. 23rd, '51. 
Dear Father: It is with feelings of reluctance that I now 
write to you to request a small amount of money, but as neces- 
sity urges me so to do, I am obliged to ask the favor of you. 
When I left home I did not think but what twenty-five cents 
would last me through the remainder of the term, but the singing 
teacher has called upon me and urged so hard that I told him 
that I would pay him a small sum for the time I was in his 
class. Please send me one dollar and I will endeavor to rightly 
use it. There is to be an address before the Amphictyon Asso- 
ciation by Horace Greeley of New York on Friday evening the 
5th of March, in the Presbyterian church in this place. I 
thought you would be glad to hear of it and would like to come 
out. We had a good address by Professor Douglas last Satur- 
day evening, and a beautiful poem by Rev. Mr. Day of Auburn, 
They were delivered before the Lyceum in the Presbyterian 
church. Yesterday forenoon the Rev. Peter Jones, an Indian 



1 6 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

preacher from Canada, preached here. To-night he gave or 
rather held a talk, as he termed it, on the habits and customs 
of the Indians, which was very interesting. The house was 
crowded to hear him. He has been to England, Ireland, and 
Scotland and has traveled some in the United States. . . But as it 
is getting late, being some time after lo, I must close this 
epistle. Good night. From your son 

Henky. 

During his vacations, at this time and later when in 
college, Henry worked upon the farm. Under the 
watchful eyes of those who loved him, he was not per- 
mitted to overtax his growing body, and the vigorous 
exercise, wholesome food, and pure air aided in build- 
ing up that splendid physique which served him so well 
through a long and toil-filled life. 



II 

COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 

IN the fall of 1854, young Morehouse entered the 
University of Rochester. The attempt to move 
Madison — now Colgate — University to the City of 
Rochester had failed, and a new institution had been es- 
tablished which was opened to students in November, 
1850. While the University of Rochester and the Roch- 
ester Theological Seminary are, and always have been, 
under the control of separate corporations, their rela- 
tions have been close and mutually helpful. Beginning 
their careers at about the same time, they were joint 
occupants of the same building — the old United States 
Hotel. In was in this building that the University was 
housed during the years when Morehouse was a student 
there. Unfortunately, we have little memoranda con- 
cerning either his college or seminary life, except such 
as may be gathered from a few family letters, and his 
father's account-book in which were recorded the sums of 
money advanced for Henry's education. 

Compared with the Rochester of to-day, the University 
of sixty-five years ago was lacking in almost everything 
that is essential to a college of the first class. It had no 
buildings. One hundred and thirty thousand dollars had 
been raised to meet the condition imposed by the Regents 
of the State, and without which a charter could not be 
secured. The first graduating class, that of 1851, num- 
bered ten. Laboratories, museums, et cetera, were yet to 
be established. It is when we come to the teaching 
force that the real strength of the school becomes mani- 
B 17 



1 8 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

fest. From the beginning, the University of Rochester 
has been strong in men. One year before Morehouse en- 
tered the University, Martin B. Anderson had come to 
the presidency. We may not accept Garfield's definition 
of a college as '^ a sawlog with Mark Hopkins at one end 
and a student at the other," but no one will question the 
importance of the personal element in education. If 
education is more than the accumulation of knowledge, 
if it implies the broadening of the mind, the shaping of 
character, the assimilation of great formative principles, 
then the young men who came under the influence of 
Doctor Anderson and his coworkers were highly fa- 
vored. With Doctor Anderson were associated such men 
as Conant, Kendrick, Maginnis, and Richardson. 

That Morehouse won high rank in scholarship is at- 
tested by his election to Phi Beta Kappa. If we are to 
trust a class poem written by Prof. F. B. Palmer for 
the fiftieth anniversary of the Class of '58, devotion to 
study did not wholly prevent Henry from having a good 
time: 

Said jolly Henry, who would go 
Where fun reigned every minute, 

" This world is all a cattle show 
And we are cattle in it." 

But where a life is measured up 

By deeds that live in memory, 
That fill with blessings misery's cup, 

All stand aside for Henry. 

By one who knew the men of '58 well, this olass is 
declared to have been " one of the most notable that has 
ever passed out to service from the halls of any institu- 
tion of learning." Among those from this class who 
won distinction in the service of their country were 
Major-General Elwell S. Otis and Rear-Admiral William 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 19 

Plarkness. It should be said here that only the plead- 
ings of his widowed mother kept young Morehouse from 
participation in the war for the defense of the Union. 
Writing of this period in his life Doctor Morehouse 
says : " The war had just broken out. There was great 
excitement. I had a commission from Albany to raise a 
company, and took active steps to do so. The great dis- 
tress of my mother, however, at the thought of my 
leaving her, decided me to dismiss the subject." Ardent 
patriot that he was, we can understand something of the 
struggle through which he passed when compelled to de- 
cide between his mother and military service. What a 
soldier he would have made ! 

Among those from this class who entered the ministry, 
in addition to Doctor IMorehouse, were Lemuel Moss, 
Cephus B. Crane, A. J. Padelford, and J. S. Gubelman; 
men who greatly served the cause of Christ as repre- 
sented by our denomination, and whose names became 
household words in Baptist homes. 

It is sometimes assumed that if the student is to appre- 
ciate his opportunities and develop qualities of self- 
reliance and independent action, he must earn his own 
way. Large numbers of men who have secured an edu- 
cation by their own unaided exertions, have come to fill 
important places in the life of their time, and have sig- 
nally served their generation. On the other hand, some 
men who have had the expenses of their education met 
by others have failed to take advantage of their oppor- 
tunities and have never achieved distinction. Any hasty 
generalization from these facts, however, is dangerous. 
Not all men who supported themselves in college have 
achieved distinction. Many whose college expenses were 
met by parents or friends have risen to eminence. Not a 
little depends upon temperament and home influences. 



20 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

The father of Doctor Morehouse was able and wilHng 
to provide for the expenses of his children's education. 
This does not imply that these sons were excused from 
work. Through regular tasks while at home, they 
formed habits of industry. Careful account was kept of 
the money expended upon the education of Doctor More- 
house, as will be seen by extracts from- the account-book 
of his father: 

Henry L. Morehouse, Dr., 

To cash while at school at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. .$228.59 

This covered the period from November, 1851, to June, 
1854. When all allowance is made for the larger pur- 
chasing power of the dollar of 185 1 as compared with 
that of 1918, it cannot be said that young Morehouse was 
in any danger of being seriously harmed by the help 
which he received. Even in the light of the fact that 
he went home every Friday night and so reduced ex- 
penses somewhat, seventy-six dollars per year would 
hardly tempt him to form extravagant habits. 

While in the University of Rochester Henry received 
from his father $258.82 the first year, $193.75 the second, 
$255.50 the third, and $250 the fourth. The whole 
amount expended for his education up to the completion 
of his college course was $1,186.97. 

The most significant event of his college life, for him- 
self, for his family, and for the world, was his conver- 
sion. His father and mother had made no public pro- 
fession of faith in Christ until after the removal of the 
family to East Avon. Here they openly pledged them- 
selves to Christian service and united with the Baptist 
church. That their religious life was real, their interest 
in the conversion of their children deep and constant, is 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 21 

attested by letters written by them to Henry while he 
was in college. Under date of ]\Iay 8, 1855, the father, 
after some reflections upon his forty-eighth birthday 
which he has just passed, continues : 

You are now enjoying special privileges and the time of such 
privileges will soon be past. The advice which the wise man 
gave his son I think would not be inappropriate in me to you. 
" Know thou the God of your fathers, and serve him ^vith a 
perfect heart and willing mind. If thou seek him, he will be 
found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off 
forever ! " The encouragement to seek the favor of your heavenly 
Father is the greatest that can be offered, and the terms are 
most reasonable; while to reject is the most dangerous as w^ell 
as the most inconsistent decision you can make. May the 
goodness of God that has upheld you from your earliest days and 
supplied your numerous wants, lead you to accept the offer of 
mercy presented to you through the gospel and repent of your 
sins and become an heir to that inheritance that is "incorrup- 
tible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." 

The mother wrote on June 11, 1855 : 

Our daily prayer is that the Lord will take kind care of our 
dear children ; that he will keep them from the dangers and 
temptations to which they are exposed; that they may be guided 
by wisdom from on high in the paths of piety and virtue, and 
that they may be made heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus 
Christ. 

On November 25 of the same year, writing on a Sab- 
bath evening, the father refers to a letter received from 
Henry in which the latter states that he does not think 
that he has met with a change of heart, but that his feel- 
ings are different: 

I wish you would write me in what way they are different: 
whether you love the company of religious people more or less 
than before, and whether you take more or less pleasure in read- 



22 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

ing the Scriptures and in hearing them read. These may seem 
unimportant questions, but I hope not, for the question at issue 
is one of great importance. The decision which you make now 
may be the last, whether for good or evil. 

On the margin of this letter Doctor Morehouse has 
written, " My conversion in 1855." At this time Charles 
G. Finney was holding revival services in Rochester, 
resulting in a great religious awakening. Just how 
much, if any, impression was made upon young More- 
house by Doctor Finney we do not know. Always 
thoughtful concerning religious matters, growing up in 
a home where God was honored, it would be strange in- 
deed if the deep and general spiritual awakening did not 
stir him profoundly. In one of the family letters there 
is a reference to '' that night," hinting that on some par- 
ticular night the great decision was made that brought 
Henry L. Morehouse into the ranks of those who delib- 
erately follow where Jesus Christ leads the way. It was 
not until the fall of the following year that Henry was 
baptized and united with the church. Under date of 
September 29, 1856, his father writes : 

Next Saturday will be our regular covenant meeting preceding 
communion. We expect there will be two or three that will 
come forward and relate their experience with a view of being 
baptized on Sunday. If you think the present Is the best time 
for you to put on Christ by following his example, it would be 
a day of rejoicing to your friends, especially to your father and 
mother. 

Evidently this suggestion was acted upon, as this letter 
bears a memorandum in Doctor Morehouse's hand- 
writing, " My baptism in 1856." How little any of the 
company gathered on this occasion realized its signifi- 
cance for the kingdom of God ! Even the rejoicing 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 23 

parents could not have anticipated in their loving hopes 
the large and important service which their son v^as to 
render. 

After being graduated from the University he re- 
turned to his home and to the familiar tasks of the 
farm. He had not yet found himself. Whatever in- 
clination he may have had toward specific undertakings 
went unrecorded. Did he, even then, hear a voice say- 
ing, " Whom shall I send ? " Was the work to which he 
turned simply a '' stop-gap," giving him time to get his 
bearings? In the records, kept more or less intermit- 
tently, he gives us no answer. 

In the February following Henry's graduation, his 
father died when in his fifty-second year. Seth S. 
Morehouse was a man greatly respected, as is evident 
from a tribute appearing in the Livingston County 
*' Republican " : 

Seth S. Morehouse died on February 11, 1859. He was a man 
of unflinching principles, of candor, of sound judgment, an 
arbiter in difficulties, a peacemaker. That the deceased was a 
man held in universal respect is sufficiently evidenced in the fact 
that two other churches of the place on the Sabbath of his 
funeral, suspended their usual services and, with their pastors, 
united with the church of which he was a member in paying the 
last tribute of friendship. 

As the elder of the two brothers, upon the death of the 
father, the conduct of the farm devolved, in large mea- 
sure, upon Henry. Now came months and even years of 
strenuous manual labor, lightened by such diversions as 
are common to country communities. Diaries kept for 
a portion of this time furnish a vivid picture of the 
routine of farm Hfe: January 3, "Butchered 11 hogs." 
January 4, "Went to Rochester with hogs. Got 6^ 
for pigs and 6.30 for old hogs." 5, " Packed down the 



24 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

pork." 6, '' Bought a hive of bees for which I paid 
$6.00." " Drew stalks." 19, " Drew corn on bam floor 
and threshed with horses." 26, '* Worked at ice-house." 
February 3, " Attended convention." 8, " In evening 

went to a party at and had a tip-top time." Much 

of the time in February was spent in filling the ice-house, 

but he managed to call upon Miss on a certain 

evening, and to stay, as he records it, " until about 2 
o'clock this morning." He chopped and drew wood, 
trimmed the grape-vines, sawed wood, fixed fences, at- 
tended auctions, picked stone, plowed, dragged, seeded, 
harvested, and threshed. 

Donation parties, church socials, singing-schools, and 
an expedition to Chenango County where he feasted upon 
maple-sugar, and another to Niagara Falls which he had 
never visited, made welcome breaks in the monotony of 
farm life. 

In the records of the fall of i860 we have indubitable 
evidence of his ardent Republicanism. Under date of 
September 21, he wrote: "Went to Republican meeting 
in Geneseo. Torchlight procession in evening. Ge- 
lorious time." On the eleventh of October he attended a 
Republican mass-meeting at Caledonia. " High time in 
evening. Over 250 torches, fireworks, and victuals." 
The next week he canvassed his school district ; result : 
" Lincoln 23, Douglas 19, doubtful 5." He attended a 
great mass-meeting in Rochester, getting home at three 
o'clock the next morning. When victory for the Re- 
publican Party had been won, he wrote : 

The Republicans of the country elected Abraham Lincohi 
President. Stayed all night at West Avon to hear telegraph 
returns. Great time. Had bonfire about 4 a. m. Woke every- 
body up between East and West Avon. Routed the folks in the 
East village. Fired guns, beat the drum, hurrahed, and made a 




H. L. MOREHOUSE 

1858 




H. L. MOREHOUSE 
1864 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 2^ 

fuss generally. Had a big bonfire in the evening and a grand 
pow-wow. 

On the testimony of his brother we are assured that he 
hurrahed and yelled until he could " only barely croak 
by night." 

As the year i860 was drawing to a close, Henry 
turned from the farm to adventure as a seller of maps. 
A copy of the agreement into which he entered on De- 
cember 4, i860, has been preserved : 

This agreement, made and entered into between J. R. Nisbet, 
of Rockport, N. Y., of the first part and Henry L. Morehouse, 
of Avon, Livingston County, N. Y., of the second part, wit- 
nesseth : 

That party of first part covenants and agrees with party of 
second part to pay him for his services in the canvass and sale 
of maps and books, from the fourth day of December, i860, 
to the fourth day of December, 1861, at the rate of four hundred 
and fifty dollars per year, for the time of actual service in said 
canvass and sale. Party of first part also agrees to pay all 
necessary expenses connected with the business, with the excep- 
tions mentioned below, commencing with the date of actual 
commencement of work. 

Party of first part also agrees to pay in quarterly payments, 
except the first payment which shall be paid with the second 
payment at the expiration of six months service. 

Party of second part agrees to work for party of first part 
from the said day of December, i860, until the same day of 
December, 1861, at the rate of four hundred and fifty dollars 
per year, for the time of actual service. He also agrees to 
furnish a suitable horse and conveyance for the business. Party 
of second part agrees to pay his own washing bills, horse- 
shoeing, and repairs of his conveyance. Party of second part 
further agrees to pay his own expenses and those of his team 
while not in service for party of first part. He also agrees to 
furnisli a weekly statement of his expenses, sales, and other 
matters required by the printed forms, to the superintendent, 



26 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

and to keep a just and true account of the same; also, to promote 
in every honorable way the sales of said work, to the best of 
his ability. 

In case of ill success after a fair trial, the superintendent 
shall have the privilege of canceling this agreement by paying 
fifty cents each for bona fide, responsible subscribers, to be paid 
when maps are delivered, which shall be within six months of 
dismissal. 

And the said party of the second part contracts in no case 
to sell perfect maps or books for less than their full retail 
price, under penalty of two hundred dollars, to be paid to party 
of first part by party of second part for every copy sold below 
the retail price. 

In witness whereof, we have set our hands this fourth day 
of December, i860, at Lawrenceburg, Indiana. 

Party of first part, J. R. Nisbet, 
Party of second part, H. L. Morehouse. 

His diary for 1861 furnishes a somewhat full account 
of experiences as a map-seller. The record begins with 
Madison, on the Ohio River, where he saw boats loaded 
with ice floating lazily down the stream, " going to cool 
off the fire-eaters, I suppose." On January third he is 
at Greensburg, where he " got Bell, the city marshal, to 
ride with me. He has sold bells, apple trees, made love- 
powders, traded horses, and is a good specimen of a 
Hoosier Yankee." Here he sold several maps and " saw 
a splendid girl — age 18 — weight 175 — eyes like an eagle, 
form good, face handsome and noble — pappy, rich." 

On Saturday the fifth he " went on horseback. Saw 
men shooting hogs preparatory to butchering them. 

Sold a map to old Colonel . Said he, as I was 

about leaving, ' Can't I do something for you ? * I stared 
at him. ' I have got some good rum.; won't you take a 
little ? ' Was much obliged to him. Maybe he had 
enough for both of us." 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 27 

At Versailles he ran out of funds and had trouble with 
a " sour kraut, red-nosed, meerschaum Dutchman," from 
whom they tried to hire horses. The owner's ultimatum 
was, " You no got te monish te horse 3htand in der 
sthaple." 

Staying at Westport one night he is led to exclaim — 
for some unrecorded reason — " Oh, the volubiHty of some 
women ! " Going from Westport to Greensburg the next 
day on horseback he got off to walk : " Old horse plunged 
into the woods. Chased him about an hour. Time 8 
o'clock p. m. Fell down, waded creeks, lost overshoe. 
At last got into the road and got ahead of him. Scared 
all the dogs for miles around, shouting for a man to help. 
Got the help, caught the horse, and reached Greensburg 
about 10 p. m." 

At Newburg he stopped in a house " with one room 
for parlor, dining-room, bedroom, etc., etc. Man and 
wife, two children and myself slept in that room: three 
beds in there almost touching. Went to bed by the light 
of a blazing fire in the fire-place. North Carolinians. 
She smokes!' 

" Old Barney," his horse, was " all stove up " from 
traveling the frozen mud. He would break through at 
almost every step. It took six hours to make the journey 
from Greensburg to Milney — twelve miles. He writes 
of having sassafras-tea for supper, and of singing with 
the boys of the family until about lo p. m. 

Writing at Greensburg on February twelfth he says : 
" Hurrah ! for a squint at the Presidential phiz ! Crowds 
coming to town on foot, horseback, etc. Should think 
that there were nearly three hundred horses hitched 
around the court-house. ' Lo ! the conquering hero 
comes ! ' Drums beat, the band plays, a quartet sings 
the ' Star Spangled Banner ' and ' Abe ' speaks. Cheers ! 



28 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

The crowd leaves and I get my horse and do like- 
wise." 

The young man is attending a rough school. Ever 
and again he writes, " Oh, the mud ! " Some days he 
canvasses in the rain. The storms occasionally catch 
him far from shelter and he is drenched to the skin. 
He fords streams where the water comes half-way up 
the horse's sides, and wets his trousers even when his 
feet are drawn up as high as he can get them. Now and 
then he is compelled to go " on foot and across lots," as 
he puts it. The food is not always palatable, although 
he writes of one place of entertainment where he had 
sausage for supper, sausage for breakfast, sausage for 
dinner, and exclaims, " Linked sweetness, long drawn 
out." He buys a peck of apples and eats most of them 
the next day. In one place he " tried the intelligence 
and pockets of the people and concluded that it would 
go tough. P. S. — The above remark was confirmed by 
subsequent observation." He evidently tires of his job, 
for he writes under date of March 4, " The same old 
treadmill to-day, with but few variations." 

" Footing it " from Cambridge City to Milton, he at- 
tended singing-school in the evening. " Sung tenor and 
got a compliment by being called a * stranger from civili- 
zation.* A rock was thrown against the window: a 
Shanghai rooster the night before. Had a pleasant time 
and went home with myself." 

Three months of selling maps proved to be enough, 
at least for the " party of the second part," for writing 
at Fayetteville on April thirteenth, he says, " After to- 
night I am free." The following week he met Mr. 
Nisbet in Indianapolis, settled up, disposed of his horse 
and buggy and then spent some days visiting the camps 
of the soldiers, listening to debates in the legislature, 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 29 

and seeing the sights of the city. He was privileged to 
hear Stephen A. Douglas and Governor Morton, greatly 
to his satisfaction. 

After the strenuous months in Indiana he decided to 
take a pleasure trip farther west, and May second found 
him en route for St. Louis. This city filled him with 
admiration both for its size and the beauty of its build- 
ings. He speaks especially of the Southern Hotel " six 
stories high and with 21 windows on one square." Here 
he saw a slave sale which he describes as follows : 

Auctioneer. "Now how much for Jane? Nine years old, 
nice girl, well grown." Started at $140, sold for $320. 

Emily. "Can set table and wash dishes." Six years old. 
Sold for $240. 

Henry. " Fine countenance, bright eye, good teeth. What'll 
you give me for Henry? " Sold for $155. 

George. About four years old. " Stout, hearty boy and in 
good health." Sold for $155. 

Mother sold for $545. Family separated. No tears shed. 
The man who bought the girl told me that he would take her 
home and give her to one of his daughters and tell her to 
bring her up well. He told the mother that she could come 
out and see the girl whenever she wanted to. 

Leaving St. Louis he visited LTpper Alton, where he 
saw Shurtleff College. By way of Springfield and 
Bloomington he went to Fulton and crossed over into 
Iowa, spending some days with a cousin residing on a 
farm near Lyons. Here he shoots pigeons and prairie- 
chickens, and on Sunday goes to church where he hears 
a sermon of which he writes, " poor preaching." Of the 
prairie he says that it looks "as if old Mother Earth 
had been taking a shave." 

After a week here he took a boat from Lyons for St. 
Paul, and at Galena "saw Doctor Kane*s Esquimaux 



30 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

dog, ' Myonk.' " After leaving Dubuque he went up 
into the wheel-house and was allowed to steer the boat. 
This leads him to write : " H. L. Morehouse, River Pilot. 
Wouldn't that sound well?" He was indeed to be a 
pilot, but of a larger and much more important craft 
than any that ever navigated the Mississippi. 

This trip up the Mississippi was full of interest to the 
young Easterner, and nothing seems to escape him. He 
describes Prairie du Chien as " well laid out, but thinly 
populated." Winona is a " small town of about 1,500 
population on a small strip of river-bottom"; while 
Wabasha, now only a hamlet, is credited with a popula- 
tion of 1,800. He visited Fort Snelling and " rode sev- 
eral miles without seeing a sign of civilization." At 
Minnehaha he went under and back of the waterfall. 
St. Anthony and Minneapolis were then distinct villages 
separated by the river over which there was a suspension 
bridge. St. Paul had a population of 11,000, much larger 
than that of its neighboring twin city. This portion of 
his diary is illustrated by spirited pencil-sketches, pre- 
senting views of Fort Snelling, Maiden Rock, Indians 
at Red Wing, and the hands on the steamboat as they 
were eating dinner. On his way down the river he 
stopped off at Dubuque and visited the lead-mines some 
three miles from the city. From Chicago, where he 
visited the University, he returned to his East Avon 
home, reaching there the last of May. 

A trait of character is revealed in this diary which 
persisted through life, viz., his appetite for information. 
He learns what salary is paid the pilot, captain, and deck- 
hands on the Mississippi River steamboats. Visiting 
the lead-mines at Dubuque he is not satisfied, as were 
most visitors, simply to descend to the bottom of the 
perpendicular shaft: he must explore every part of the 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 3 1 

mine. At St. Louis, Bloomington, and Chicago he cUmbs 
in each place to the top of the court-house, that he may 
get the view and gain an idea of the general plan of the 
city. He learns everything possible of the size, indus- 
tries, and probable future of each place he visits. No 
amount of labor is thought too great if it adds to his 
store of information. In after years and in foreign lands 
this same trait of character found even more striking 
illustration. 

From his own testimony we learn that he did not in- 
cline to the life of a farmer, but had a decided taste for 
political activity. The ministry appealed to him, and 
with his last words his dying father had expressed the 
hope that he would preach " if he felt led that way." 
A3 he mused the fire burned. Of this time he writes: 

During the summer the conviction deepened that I should 
preach the gospel. One summer night, returning on foot from 
the prayer-meeting two miles awaj^ at a spot which I can never 
forget, I surrendered and decided that I would study for the 
ministry. How momentous was that night! How sacred is 
that spot! 

He had been slow in reaching a decision, but was 
quick to act upon it. Within a few weeks he entered 
Rochester Theological Seminary. Dr. E. G. Robinson 
was President, and Dr. G. W. Northrup and Doctor 
Hotchkiss were members of the faculty. Of Doctors 
Robinson and Northrup he says : " Both were inspiring 
teachers, with an aim in life. I am indebted more to 
Dr. Robinson than to any other teacher for the intel- 
lectual momentum I received and the work I have since 
wrought." 

Of the following three years we have little record. 
Only a brief reference to his seminary course is found 



32 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

in the autobiographical sketch preserved among his pa- 
pers. " I applied myself earnestly to study," he writes. 
" My whole intellectual life was quickened, aroused, and 
in many ways affected as never before. Our class was the 
first of the three years' course; prior to that, the course 
having been two years." 

At the beginning of 1864 he was supplying the church 
at Suspension Bridge. A financial statement found in 
his diary for 1864 shows that from September i, 1863, 
to May I, 1864, he received $50.67 for services rendered 
this church, and $58 from other churches which he sup- 
plied. Here, also, we come upon a summary of sem- 
inary expenses for the three years: $250 for the first 
year, $221 for the second, and $331.75 for the third, a 
total of $802.75. That he had no false pride is evident 
from a notation in his diary under date of January 6, 
1864: " Came to Rochester with Ezra on a load of wood." 

That he was drawn toward work in the foreign field 
is made clear by an entry under date of January 26: 
" Called to talk with Dr. Warren about missions, at the 
home of Dr. Cutting. Had a pleasant and profitable 
time. Am undecided what to do." One cannot help 
wondering what would have been the result had he gone 
into foreign work. That he would have taken rank with 
Judson and Clough and the greatest of those who have 
labored for the non-Christian world, no one can doubt. 

Before graduation day came he had been invited to the 
pastorate of a church which he does not name, but says, 
" Did not feel called to that field." During examination 
week 

Deacon J. S. Webber, of East Saginaw, Michigan, came to 
Rochester for a pastor for the church there. He told his story 
to the class. Several were already decided. Others— married— 
coflld not go. Though once I had declined to visit Port Huron 



COLLEGE AND SEMINARY DAYS 33 

because I was averse to going to Michigan, I was drawn to 
this field with its pecuHar difficulties. I had some means from 
my father's estate and I said to myself, " I can live where others 
cannot: why should I not throw myself into the breach." 

He promised to visit the field later on. On May ii, 1864, 
he was graduated from the Rochester Theological 
Seminary. 



Ill 

PASTORAL WORK 

FIVE days after the Rochester Seminary Commence- 
ment, young Morehouse left for Virginia to enter 
the service of the Christian Commission. He served at 
Front Royal, Cold Harbor, Belle Plain, and Petersburg. 
He remained in Virginia only about six weeks, returning 
to his home July sixth. Soon after returning to East 
Avon, he redeemed his promise to visit East Saginaw, 
and this visit resulted in a hearty call to the pastorate. 
After careful deliberation he accepted, beginning his 
work with this little church on October 2, 1864, the thir- 
tieth anniversary of his birth. 

Looking across the years upon this young pastor one 
cannot fail to see in him something of the spirit of the 
crusader: that spirit which carried him into so many 
difficult undertakings and made him strong for tasks 
from which a weaker man would have turned away. On 
his shield was the motto " I serve," and he would go 
where need of his help was greatest. Nothing stands 
out more clearly in the character of this man than his 
enthusiasm for hard work. P'or him the line of least re- 
sistance had no lure. He did not hold himself to toil 
by sheer force of will as it overmastered urging inclina- 
tion, but ran to meet the tasks of life as a lover hastens 
to his sweetheart. This incessant activity was not all 
due to exceptional devotion to the kingdom of God, deep 
and fervent as was his religious life. By temperament 
and training he was a toiler. He would have been dili- 
gent and successful as a farmer, a lawyer, or a man of 
34 



PASTORAL WORK 35 

business. Work — hard work — was to him the very 
breath of his hfe. 

As the young Saginaw pastor faced his task he saw 
conditions that challenged his uttermost of courage and 
strength. Salt had recently been discovered in that vi- 
cinity and speculation ran high. At certain seasons men 
from the lumber-camps thronged the town and became 
easy prey for those who kept saloons and vile resorts. 
Stores as well as saloons were open on Sunday. Wick- 
edness was rampant. 

By no stretch of the imagination can the East Saginaw 
of 1864 be seen as an attractive place of residence, con- 
sidered in and of itself. Men were attracted by the op- 
portunities for money-making, by the need of Christian 
service, but not by the city's beauty. The East Saginaw 
of to-day has paved streets, substantial and beautiful 
buildings, all the public and private utilities which go so 
far toward making a desirable place in which to have 
one's home. But the East Saginaw of '64 was a ram- 
bling, uncouth town where stumps still stood in the 
streets, and attractiveness could be seen only by the eye 
of faith. 

If the town lacked charm, the Baptist church was even 
less alluring. Under the preceding pastor — thanks be! 
his name is unknown to the writer — the church had be- 
come divided, and the new shepherd found only about 
twenty-five people in his flock. To make a bad matter 
worse, the former pastor was preaching to the come- 
outers in another part of town. The building in which 
the little church met for worship was small and unat- 
tractive, and the songs of the saints seemed feeble in 
comparison with the noise made by frogs and mosqui- 
toes. Here was a man's job, and it was a real man who 
undertook it. 



36 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

It was evident that the church must have help from 
outside, temporarily at least, and the young pastor 
naturally turned to the Home Mission Society. To re- 
enforce the application made to the Society for aid, he 
sought the good offices of Pres. M. B. Anderson, his 
friend and former teacher. Under date of November 
16, 1864, he writes: 

It becomes necessary for me to make application to the Home 
Mission Society for aid and to support me in this my field of 
labor. The church is very poor and is doing its utmost in re- 
pairing and partially paying for the building in which we meet 
for worship — they can do hardly anything for me, perhaps $100 
or $150 at the outside. We have received an appropriation from 
the State Convention of $200. I desire to make my application 
at the next meeting of the Board, and would be under lasting 
obHgation to you for such assistance as you can render, whether 
it be in the way of a recommendation such as the Board requires, 
or in other ways that you judge most proper. Could we receive 
$300 at least from the Board this year v/hen we are at so much 
expense in another direction, we think it would enable us to do 
without their aid next year. The expense of purchasing and 
repairing the church will be about $1,800, and we are very poor 
and have opposition from those who should be of our own 
household. A statement of our condition will accompany the 
application. Living is very expensive in this place, and I must 
have $600 from some quarter. 

The importance of this place is perhaps already known to 
you. It is the largest place by perhaps 2,000 of any in this 
valley — the population is estimated at about 7,000. 

I little thought when under your instruction in the University 
that I should ever make such a request as this of you — ^but God 
leads us in ways which we had not marked out — and I feel 
that it is his hand which has led me to this place; and feeling 
this, I believe he will bless me here. I am contented and happy 
in my position, and hope for the good of the cause in this valley 
that the Board may look with favor upon my application. 
Respectfully and fraternally yours, 

H. L. Morehouse. 



PASTORAL WORK 37 

If he little thought when in the University that he 
would ever make such a request of his honored teacher, 
how much less did he think when approaching the 
Society for aid, that for long years he would be the 
director-general of the Baptist Home Mission forces in 
the Northern States. The experience through which he 
was passing helped to make him the great and sympa- 
thetic Corresponding Secretary. 

Doctor Anderson's estimate of his former student is 
made plain in a letter addressed to Doctor Backus, Cor- 
responding Secretary of the Home Mission Society, un- 
der date of November twenty-second : 

Enclosed you will find a letter from Rev. H. L. Morehouse, 
who has just settled in East Saginaw, Michigan. The letter 
speaks for itself. Mr. Morehouse is an earnest-minded, pious 
young man of excellent ability who bids fair to become one 
of our ablest ministers. I know that he went to Saginaw from 
religious motives, having set aside more flattering calls from 
the desire of going where he could build on a new foundation 
and be most useful. Saginaw is growing rapidly by reason of 
the salt-water wells there, and I feel quite certain that the kind 
feeling which will be generated by assistance for one year will 
ultimately bring a much larger sum to our Society's treasury. 
You must of course, with your advisors, decide all such ques- 
tions, but I give the most entire endorsement to Mr. More- 
house and the importance of the field he occupies. 

Wishing you all blessing in your great work, 

I am, Yours truly, 

M. B. Anderson. 

The Home Mission Board responded, readily, to the 
request for aid, helping the struggling church for the 
first three years of Mr. Morehouse's pastorate. 

Before leaving East Avon Mr. Morehouse had been 
licensed to preach by his home church. The document 



38 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

is SO delightfully genuine as to be worthy of reproduction 
here : 

To Whom it may concern 

The Baptist church in East Avon Sendeth Greeting: 

Dear Brethren: The bearer, our beloved Brother Henry L. 
Morehouse, has expressed to us his conviction of duty to preach 
the Gospel, and to devote himself to the work of the Christian 
ministry. We, hereby, take pleasure in giving him License for 
the work, in that we consider him, on trial with us, to be a young 
man of sincere and consistent piety, of irreproachable moral 
character, and in our judgment to possess those gifts and the 
grace of the Holy Spirit which, by diligent improvement of the 
same, will qualify him, through the ordination vows that he may 
take upon himself, to be eminently useful in the cause of the 
Redeemer, especially in the Pastoral office. 

Praying that great grace may rest both upon himself and 
upon the church he may serve. 

We are ever, Yours in the Lord. 

Done in church meeting September 18, 1864, and signed in be- 
half of and by order of the church. 

J. W. Dana, Church Clerk. 



On December 7, 1864, Henry L. Morehouse was or- 
dained to the work of the gospel ministry at East Sagi- 
naw, by a council which represented nine of the Baptist 
churches of that vicinity. The records of the council 
state that the relation of " his Christian experience, call 
to the ministry, and views of Christian doctrine proving 
wholly satisfactory, it was unanimously voted," etc. 
The ordination sermon was preached by Rev. J. H. 
Griffith, D. D. 

Reference has been made to the building in which the 
little band of East Saginaw Baptists met for worship. 




EAST SAGINAW BAPTIST 
CHURCH 

Built during Doctor More- 
house's Ministry 




ORIGINAL EAST SAGINAW CHURCH 
Building owned by Deacon Webber 



PASTORAL WORK 39 

This building was the property of one of the officers of 
the church. In a letter to Mrs. L. M. Barnes, of Benton 
Harbor, Michigan, written November 30, 1904, Doctor 
Morehouse describes it as a " small, wooden building, 
standing on posts, mostly over a bayou, where the frogs 
in the summer made music for the congregation and the 
mosquitoes were intolerable: the front of the house, 
however, came to the edge of tlie sidewalk. The build- 
ing was sometimes mistaken for a saloon. It held about 
125 to 150 people." 

All the powers, spiritual, intellectual, and physical, of 
the vigorous and devoted young pastor were devoted to 
the task of building the kingdom in this place to which 
he had been led by God's spirit. His preaching was 
positive and searching, his labors unremitting, and his 
fine executive ability found full play. People were won 
to Christ, and the church grew in numbers. The build- 
ing was purchased by the church and made more at- 
tractive. The little company of Baptists, but lately so 
discouraged, caught their leader's enthusiasm and hope- 
fulness. Four years had not passed before the meeting- 
place was too small to accommodate the people, and 
talk of a new church-house began to be heard. As in 
everything else, the energetic pastor led in the building 
enterprise, and out of the $10,000 raised in the initial 
steps of the undertaking, $8,500 was secured through 
personal solicitation by Doctor Morehouse. He also se- 
cured $9,000 of the $12,000 borrowed by the church. 
A commodious and attractive meeting-house was erected, 
costing about $25,000. 

Before six years had come and gone the burdens rest- 
ing upon the pastor had become almost too heavy to 
bear. In a letter to the church, presented at the annual 
meeting in February, 1869, he recounts his labors and 



40 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

insists that he will no longer consent to have his actual 
salary only one half or two thirds of his nominal one; 
that henceforth he must know what he can depend upon 
or, much as he would regret the necessity, he must seek 
another field of labor. He also asks to be wholly re- 
lieved from financial duties that he may devote himself 
to the work of the ministry. 

On July I, 1870, Doctor Morehouse tendered his resig- 
nation. His reasons for this action do not appear in the 
memoranda which he left concerning this pastorate. It 
is unsafe to speculate, but one is tempted to indulge in a 
surmise as to one of the causes, when he reads a notation 
in Doctor Morehouse's handwriting, " Balance due me 
Jan. I, 1870, $502.31." His salary for the first two years 
was $600 per annum, for the third year $800, and for the 
remainder of this pastorate $1,000 per year. He had 
refused calls carrying with them a large increase in 
salary. Churches of other denominations in East Sagi- 
naw were paying their pastors double that received by 
the Baptist pastor. He was not avaricious nor self- 
seeking, as all who knew him will testify. He sacrificed 
gladly when by so doing he could help on the cause of 
Christ; but he wanted fair play. Even his small salary 
was not paid promptly, as his record shows. The people 
did not wish to starve him out ; far from it. They loved 
him. But, like many another church, they assumed that 
the Lord would attend to the finances however they might 
ignore business methods. As always in such cases, the 
Lord refused to do it. 

An interesting document is the minute of the church 
meeting which took action on the pastor's resignation : 

At a meeting of the church and society of the First Baptist 
Church held in the basement of the church, Tuesday evening, 
July 5, 1870, called by the deacons of the church as per previous 



PASTORAL WORK 4 1 

adjournment, the following resolution was adopted by unanimous 
vote. 

Resolved, That we cannot accept the resignation tendered by 
our dearly beloved pastor on Friday evening, July i, 1870. 

On motion the following committee was appointed to wait on 
him and inform him of the action of the meeting: Rev. J. L. 
DeLand, Deacons J. S. Webber, T. A. Pratt, J. G. Owen, A. P. 
Brener. 

Satisfactory arrangements must have been made, as 
the pastor remained with the church for more than two 
years after the date of his resignation. 

The devotion and ability of the East Saginaw pastor 
won early and hearty recognition from the Baptists of 
Michigan. He was made a member of the board of 
managers of the Baptist State Convention, and also 
served as president of the convention. Many and diffi- 
cult as were the problems of his particular field, he looked 
beyond the boundaries of his parish and gave of his 
service to every worthy undertaking. The struggling 
churches in other sections elicited his sympathy and help. 
Then, as later, he was keenly interested in education, 
and as a trustee of Kalamazoo College he performed most 
valuable service. As was the case in the early career of 
so many denominational colleges, this institution had 
provided for theological training. In the development 
of the Middle West and the growth of the Baptist de- 
nomination, the demand for a distinct theological school 
in the Mississippi valley became imperative, and men of 
faith and vision founded the Morgan Park Theological 
Seminary. The East Saginaw pastor was made a mem- 
ber of the board of trustees of the new institution. It 
was clear to him that, under the changed conditions, 
Kalamazoo College should merge its theological depart- 



42 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

ment in the Morgan Park School, and he initiated the 
movement to bring this about. The president of the 
College, with some of its friends, strenuously opposed 
this proposition. Doctor Morehouse always knew what 
he believed and why he believed it, and did not hesitate 
to act upon his convictions. He threw himself into the 
struggle which followed, and lived to see the full justifi- 
cation of his judgment. Kalamazoo abandoned its theo- 
logical department, and went on its way all the stronger 
because of concentration upon the real work of the 
college. 

In the Jones-Harrison Home for Aged Women in the 
city of Minneapolis, the writer found a former member 
of the East Saginaw church who recalls, with deep grati- 
tude and affection, the work of Doctor Morehouse in his 
first pastorate. As Mrs. Phedora I. Pauline tells the 
story, she v/as a somewhat giddy girl when Doctor 
Morehouse came to East Saginaw, and gave the young 
pastor some anxious moments because of her high spirits. 
Although she had united with the Congregational church 
some time before this, the cogent arguments of the Bap- 
tist pastor convinced her that she had not yet followed 
Christ in baptism, and in the first year of Doctor More- 
house's pastorate she was baptized into the fellowship 
of the Baptist church. The ordinance was administered 
in the Saginaw River and, after the lapse of more than 
half a century, Mrs. Pauline draws a vivid picture of 
the lumber piles which bordered the river and the throngs 
of people who witnessed the scene from the vantage- 
point of these same piles of lumber. 

On one occasion she and Doctor Morehouse were the 
only ones present at the prayer-meeting on time. After 
waiting for fifteen or twenty minutes they had a prayer 
service, and then left the building. Going out they met 



PASTORAL WORK 43 

some of the tardy members of the flock, to whom the 
pastor said, " Prayer-meeting is over." How charac- 
teristic of the man as we knew him in after years. 

Mrs. PauHne describes his preaching as distinctly evan- 
geHstic, and says that for a long period of time not a 
month passed without baptisms. 

No better summary of these years of pastoral labor 
can be presented than that furnished by Doctor More- 
house himself, in an address delivered before the Michi- 
gan Baptist State Convention, meeting with the East 
Saginaw church in October, 1891 : 

Twenty years ago, when this city fought the forest flames in 
its suburbs, when a pall of smoke enveloped the place, when 
delegates came through miles of burning forests, I had the honor 
of welcoming the Michigan Baptist State Convention to this 
church. Twenty years ago, on the same occasion, I also had 
the privilege of welcoming those grand men, long since gone 
home. Doctors Backus and Taylor. And now, such are the 
changes that time brings, again I am here with the Convention, 
meeting under clear skies and in a pure atmosphere, honored 
by your welcome as a representative of the Society under whose 
auspices I first came as a missionary pastor to this city — to this 
city, then a rough, frontier place of 6,500 population, with 
miry roads and streets winding among the stumps, where now 
are superior pavement and electric-car lines and the substantial 
improvements of this great city. 

To me, Michigan Baptists and Michigan interests are peculiarly 
dear, for was it not here, twenty-seven years ago this month, 
that I began my ministry; here where hands of ordination were 
laid on my head; here where I baptized in the Saginaw River 
the first convert under my ministr}^; here where with a little 
band of about twent}'-five we grappled with the grave problems 
confronting us, and here where many a victory for Christ was 
won? The kind consideration shown me by my brethren in the 
State, who seemed to have so much of the spirit of a Christian 
family in all their meetings, is a delightful memory. . . But with 
all the individual changes, the Convention itself has continuity 
of existence; and so, brethren of this church and brethren of 



^|4 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

the Convention, I feel like an adopted son of Michigan who, 
after many years' absence, has returned to his old home among 
you — home, here. 

It was here, as I firmly believe, that I received that dis- 
cipline, acquired that knowledge of the conditions and needs 
of frontier mission fields, and had developed that sympathy for 
struggling interests, that have been of incalculable value to me 
in the work to which, for the past twelve years, I have given 
my time and powers. How the memories of those days come 
trooping in at this hour ! I cannot dwell on these things, and yet 
I am constrained to allude to just a few, by way of illustration 
of the kind of work which many missionaries of the Home 
Mission Society are now doing in the new settlements of the 
Farther West. 

In South Saginaw I helped organize, and for about three years, 
I think, preached every other Sunday afternoon in the little 
church whose prayer-meetings also I occasionally attended. Car- 
rollton was also an outstation where services were held and 
from which members were added to this church. Then there 
was the "Brooks district," as we called it, eight or ten miles 
westerly from Saginaw City — now West Saginaw — a little set- 
tlement in the wilderness, reached by a rough road, full of 
stumps. There we held meetings in Mr. Brooks' log house, the 
neighbors coming through the woods at night with their lanterns. 

And so, from point to point the work was followed up. How 
well I remember the beginnings at Midland City, and baptism 
of some converts away northwest of Midland — the baptistery 
in midwinter being a beautiful pool in a thick, pine forest. 
There were visits to Tawas, Alpena, Sheboygan, and other places, 
to preach, organize, and recognize churches; long wagon rides 
of forty or fifty miles beyond Tuscola in the interests of our 
work. On one of these visits, as night came on, and the accom- 
modations of the two or three houses in the immediate vicinitj^ 
were quite insufficient, two or three of us found refreshing 
rest in the hay-mow of the barn. Not to dwell on these matters, 
suffice it to say that thus the work was begun in the regions 
round about a quarter of a century ago. 

In the fall of 1872 Doctor Morehouse was called to 
the pastorate of the East Avenue Church, Rochester, 



PASTORAL WORK 45 

New York. He accepted the call and began his pastorate 
on January 19, 1873. This church was located in the 
immediate vicinity of the Theological Seminary, had a 
comfortable house of worship, and included in its mem- 
bership not a few of the professors and students from 
the University and Seminary. Having been organized 
only about two years before his coming as pastor, the 
interest and enthusiasm evoked by a new enterprise had 
not yet begun to abate. He found a well-organized, in- 
telligent, and devoted band of people, ready for every 
forward movement which their pastor might initiate. 
Something of their spirit is made clear in a letter written 
to their pastor-elect under date of December 17, 1872, 
by Dr. J. H. Gilmore, then professor of Belles-lettres in 
the University of Rochester: 

The church has received, with very great satisfaction, your 
acceptance of their call. " Now," said Deacon Morse, ** we can 
go to work." They feel that they have called a pastor not to 
relieve them of burdens and responsibilities, but to put burdens 
and responsibilities upon them. There has hardly a prayer 
been offered since you were here in which you have not been 
especially mentioned, and it will not take you long to find 
a place in the hearts of the people. The church is, I think, in 
thoroughly good condition — praying for a revival and expecting 
one. 

The writer goes on to say that they had three hundred 
and sixty-nine in the Sunday School on the previous 
Sunday, and that seventeen asked for prayers at the 
evening service. 

He had hardly had time to meet his people — much 
less to put his plans for this new field into efficient opera- 
tion — ^before he was assailed by twin tempters: one the 
New York Baptist Convention, and the other the New 
York Baptist Union for Ministerial Education. Each 



4-6 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

body wanted him as corresponding secretary. His ex- 
ceptional executive ability was recognized, and the im- 
portance of the work being done by these organizations 
raised a question in his mind as to what he ought to do. 
He decided to lay the matter before the church and at a 
meeting held on November 13, 1875, the church adopted 
the following resolution: 

Resolved, That we have learned with deep regret that induce- 
ments have been held out to our pastor, Rev. Henry L. More- 
house, to sever his relations with this church : that while he 
has been called, we think God still has a work for him to do 
in behalf of this church, and we earnestly request him to 
remain in that relation which he has so pleasantly and profitably 
sustained during the past two years, assuring him of our hearty 
cooperation and support as our pastor. 

(This action is dated November 13, 1873. In view of 
the reference in the resolution to two years of service, 
it seems probable that the year was 1875.) 

Upon receiving this earnest expression of the desire 
of his people. Doctor Morehouse declined both invitations. 

Soon after going to Rochester he was elected to mem- 
bership on the board of trustees of the Seminary, and 
for the last two or three years of his pastorate he acted 
as corresponding secretary of this institution in connec- 
tion with his pastoral work. He was keenly alive to 
educational interests, and a trusted and loved friend of 
many of the students in both the Seminary and the Uni- 
versity. May the writer be pardoned if he records here 
his great sense of obligation to Doctor Morehouse for 
kindnesses shown in those days? Advice, encourage- 
ment, a brotherly interest, gave courage and direction 
to one who sorely needed friendship and guidance. What 
he was to one he was to all : a wise and kindly helper. 



PASTORAL WORK 47 

Mr. F. D. Phinney, for so many years the highly suc- 
cessful superintendent of our Mission Press at Rangoon, 
tells in a very delightful way of his relationship with 
Doctor Morehouse in the East Avenue Church of 
Rochester : 

My parents were constituent members of this church, formed 
in 1872, and Doctor Morehouse was its first settled pastor. He 
brought to Rochester, the city of his college and seminary days, 
a warm heart, a zeal for souls, and a capacity for work which 
began at once to build up the infant church. 

The churches of the city then observed the " week of prayer " 
in January. It was the expectation that evangelistic services 
would follow, and to this end the pastor preached and the 
people prayed. During his first winter revival season my elder 
brother united with the church, as did others with whom I was 
closely associated, and during the second season myself and my 
sister younger than I followed. This was before the days of 
the Christian Endeavor movement, but the wise pastor organ- 
ized a young people's prayer-meeting and put his young church- 
members to work. Well do I recall the first time he called upon 
me to lead in public prayer, and the bungle I seemed to myself 
to have made of it. But this did not excuse the young people 
from the Wednesday night church prayer-meeting, and we were 
expected to participate in that also. Then my pastor put me 
to work as teacher of a class of younger boys in the Sunday 
School, made me a church usher, and later I became church 
clerk; and while I am telling these facts in the first person, you 
will see the wise and kindly pastor behind it all, teaching his 
young members to take up the work of the church, bear its 
burdens of responsibility, and share in its privileges. 

It was just after his pastorate had closed and he had entered 
upon his great work with the Home Mission Society that the 
sainted Norman M. Waterbury took one of Doctor Morehouse's 
girls (now Mrs. H. W. Peabody) as his bride Into foreign mis- 
sion ser\dce, Into which I followed within a year, and my sister 
a few years later. I dare not say that Doctor Morehouse made 
foreign missionaries of us; but as our pastor he certainly put 
before us an object-lesson of service as a high Ideal in such a 
way that we could not be satisfied with any lower Ideal. Great 



4^ HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

had been my joy to meet him on my furloughs home, for his 
interest in his spiritual children never waned, and great was 
my sense of personal loss when on my way homeward this last 
time I learned that his long years of royal service had been 
crowned by the Master whom he taught us to serve. 

The six years and a half which he spent in Rochester 
were marked by the steady growth of the church, and 
the equally steady growth of the pastor. He was chosen 
as alumni poet of the University in 1875 and as presi- 
dent of the same organization in 1877. Outside calls 
for addresses increased as the years passed, and his repu- 
tation for exceptional ability, especially in matters of ad- 
ministration, became firmly and widely established. 

While in East Saginaw he had been the Michigan 
correspondent for " The Standard," using the pen name 
" Helymo." During his Rochester pastorate, as 
" Helmo," he wrote regularly for '* The Examiner and 
Chronicle," with occasional letters to " The Journal and 
Messenger " and other denominational papers. These 
letters gave him a reputation as a writer with ideas, who 
put things in an interesting way. In 1874, just after 
Rochester had installed a new system of water-works, 
writing to " The Examiner," " Helmo " took a fall out 
of the sensational preachers in the following vigorous 
indictment : 

Of course some of the men who occupy pulpits improved the 
occasion, and running dry on gospel themes, moistened up by 
discoursing the next Sunday on "The Water- Works." Ac- 
cording to reports of at least one discourse, it consisted of a 
mass of secular statistics and general glorification of the " Flower 
City," with a closing reference to the " water of life," to give it 
the semblance of a religious discourse. We submit that it is 
hardly fair to make the gospel a little caudal appendage to a 
big, barking, secular dog. How would this do for a frank 
avowal of sentiments as a religious notice in a Saturday paper: 





X 







DOCTOR MOREHOUSE IN 1878 



PASTORAL WORK 49 

" Church of the Sacred Novelty. Rev. Diotrephes Hornblovv^er 
will preach at this church to-morrow at the usual hours. Topic 
in the morning: The Moral Lessons of Going up in a Balloon. 
Evening: A Hair from a Modoc's Head, or What Shall We Do 
with the Indians. All persons with itching ears, who love to 
hear some new thing, will find themselves highly entertained at 
these services." 

In a communication to " The Examiner," written early 
in 1873, he urges the organization of union missionary- 
circles among the women of our Baptist churches, and 
calls attention to the dangers from separate and com- 
peting circles in the interests of home and of foreign mis- 
sions respectively. This suggestion did not pass un- 
noticed. He heard from it. In replying to his critics 
he writes : 

I made a suggestion, and behold, porcupines ! Their ink-dipped 
quills stand tremendously and irritably on end ! The ghostly 
fingers of dead languages are shaken ominously at me, and 
the strange words behind which some given personality is con- 
cealed impress one like the warnings and cabalistic characters 
of the dreadful "K. K. K." I didn't mean to be naughty- 
will try to be good — don't scare me any more. 

Xow, when " union circles " are the rule, it is difficult to 
understand the apprehension which his prophetic sug- 
gestion excited. 

While Doctor Morehouse was far from being con- 
tentious, he was never averse to a friendly argument. 
He held positive convictions and was ready to defend 
them. In 1875 the question was being asked in Roch- 
ester, " Why should ministers and church property be 
exempt from taxation ? " The pastor of the East Avenue 
Church was keenly interested in this matter and held 
very decided views concerning it. These views he pre- 
sented to his brother pastors in a carefully prepared 

D 



50 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

paper read before the members of the Ministers* Con- 
ference of his city on February 22, 1875. He began 
with an examination of the genealogy of reHgious ex- 
emptions, citing pagan practices, and asserting that the 
Christian church under Constantine followed heathen 
precedent. Exemption is based less upon principle than 
upon precedent. The state exempts clergymen, paupers, 
and Indians. He neither likes the company nor the cus- 
tom which puts him there. Taxation would not affect 
the prosperity of the church, and exemption leads to 
grave abuses. 

This paper was printed in the city dailies and aroused 
general interest and not a little discussion. The Roman 
Catholic bishop of Rochester jumped into the ring, and 
made passes at the Protestant pastor. The Protestant 
stood his ground and countered most skilfully. The 
controversy raged in the columns of one of the city 
papers until the editor shut off further discussion. The 
East Avenue pastor was credited, by Protestants at 
least, with having the best of the argument. He im- 
proved the opportunity to call attention to the propensity 
of the Roman Catholic Church to secure support for it$ 
institutions from the public treasury. He induced his 
opponent to declare : 

I am not hostile to the public school system. I will gladly join 
with my fellow citizens in making our American system of 
schools the best in the world, when the rights of conscience,, in 
themselves inalienable, are conceded. But to the present sys- 
tem, based on injustice and denying rights of conscience, I am, 
with all my heart, hostile. 

This was to be his last pastorate. He had become so 
well known for qualities of leadership, had shown such 
exceptional executive ability, that he was coveted — as 



PASTORAL WORK 5 1 

we have seen — ^by important general organizations. 
Heretofore, he had not yielded to the voices that would 
have moved him from his church; but in May of 1879 he 
hears a compelling call. The great American Baptist 
Home Mission Society elects him its Corresponding 
Secretary. 

He was in the prime of his manhood. Years of work 
on the farm, coupled with temperate habits, had given 
him a powerful body. His mental powers, naturally of 
exceptional excellence, had been developed under the 
wise training of such great teachers as Martin B. Ander- 
son and E. G. Robinson. From these men he had also 
received stimulating ideals of character and method, and 
had proved their worth by use. He knew men. The 
months spent as a map-seller, his experiences among the 
soldiers, the years at East Saginaw and East Avenue 
had taught him much as to his fellows. He knew him- 
self; was conscious of his powers. Had he been dis- 
trustful of his ability to overcome difficulties and do the 
hard job well, he would not have blessed the world as he 
did. Not that he was an egotist, but he was unafraid. 
He knew God by a deep, personal experience, and felt 
no fear in attempting any task to which God called him. 
And now, He whom he served had set before him an open 
door and had bidden him to a mighty task. Humbly, 
trustingly, he gave himself to a service of which, in 
length of time and in meaning for the world, he could 
have no adequate conception. Crowned with the love 
of the people whom he was leaving, honored with the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater, he 
left the service of a single church to enter the service of 
the denomination. 



IV 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 

TO write in detail of Doctor Morehouse's secretarial 
services would be to prepare a history of the Home 
Mission Society for thirty-eight years. This is neither 
possible nor desirable. What his friends will wish is 
to see him as boy and man, pastor and secretary, patriot 
and Christian, as glimpses of his long and active life 
may reveal him. 

In July, 1879, he entered upon his duties at the rooms 
of the Home Mission Society in New York City. The 
vision which he had seen years before on the Mississippi 
River steamer, " H. L. Morehouse, Pilot," had come 
true; but the craft which he guided surpassed in impor- 
tance any which ever made its way along the mighty 
western river. 

He had not sought the place. When it became prob- 
able that Dr. Sewell S. Cutting, Corresponding Secretary 
of the Home Mission Society, would decline reelection, 
denominational leaders began a careful survey of the field 
for his successor. No Baptist of that day held a larger 
place in the confidence of his brethren than did Dr. C. C. 
Bishop. He was a layman of large means, generous, 
devoted, and wise. He had been Corresponding Secre- 
tary of the Society, and was thoroughly familiar with 
its work and with the qualities of mind and heart essen- 
tial to successful leadership. Writing to Doctor More- 
house under date of May 13, 1879, just before the 
Anniversaries, Doctor Bishop spoke of Doctor Cutting's 
probable retirement, and continued: 
52 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 53 

You may very properly ask, What is all this to me? I will 
tell you. In my conversation with Doctor Cutting I named you 
as the most suitable man for Corresponding Secretary in our 
denomination. He agreed with me in this view. Dr. C. P. 
Sheldon, to whom I named you as a successor to Doctor Cut- 
ting, said he considered you, all things considered, the best man 
that he knew. Dr. C. R. Blackall, as soon as I named you, said 
he had known you and he did not know any man that he would 
prefer to you for the Home Mission Society Corresponding 
Secretary. If there is a vacancy in the office of Corresponding 
Secretary I think you will be called to fill it whether you will 
accept it or not. 

A week before the annual meeting of the Society was 
to be held in Saratoga, Doctor Bishop wrote again to 
Doctor Morehouse : 

This afternoon, as soon as Doctor Cutting had told me he had 
positively declined to be a candidate for reelection, I telegraphed 
the fact to you. . . Doctor Bright requested me to say to you 
that he joined with me heartily in urging your nomination, which 
will be equivalent to an election. . . We need a young man who 
can learn all about the Society's work in a few years, and then 
have eighteen or twenty years before him for doing what is now 
called " skilled labor." 

Upon the announcement of his election letters poured 
in upon the Rochester pastor expressing the highest sat- 
isfaction over the selection made, and urging him to 
accept. Dr. J. H. Griffith, prominent in denominational 
work wrote : " I have it in my heart to write you a word 
and say I hope you may see your way clear to take hold 
of the home mission work. From every quarter I hear 
the same wish expressed." Dr. H. L. Wayland, editor 
of "The National Baptist," in a letter written June 
third, says: 

I was very glad when I heard your name was suggested for the 
office of Secretary, and voted most heartily for you. For the 



54 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

sake of the Society and the cause of home missions I hope you 
will accept the position; that you will hold it for a quarter of 
a century, and that you will fill it more and more successfully 
each year. I think you are remarkably adapted to it. You have 
a knowledge of the West, and yet you are not identified with 
the extreme West. You have experience as pastor and secretary. 
You have youth and will be a going man for years. You have 
adaptability and tact, and the hopeful confidence of your brethren. 

On July first Doctor Morehouse wrote the Recording 
Secretary of the Society, Dr. D. B. Jutten, accepting the 
position to which he had been elected. After acknowl- 
edging the official notification of his election, he says : 

I now communicate through you to the Board and to the 
Society, my formal acceptance of the position to which the 
brethren have elected me. Assure them that I duly appreciate 
this expression of their confidence in me. While not unmindful 
of the difficulties of the position, yet with the wise cooperation 
of the Board and with the blessing of God who, in answer to 
Solomon's prayer, gave him " a wise and understanding heart," 
and who giveth wisdom liberally and to all who ask it, I firmly 
believe that whatever should be done can be done. 

Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake 
and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me 
in your prayers to God for me, that the service to which I am 
called and in which I now engage, may be performed acceptably 
to the denomination and to God. 

It is significant that he begins his work with that high 
courage and faith in God which were to find such se- 
vere testing and such repeated affirmations through the 
long years of his service. When nearing the close of 
his life, standing before the great assembly at the Ex- 
position in San Francisco, he declared, " What needs to 
be done can be done." It was a motto that he used re- 
peatedly throughout his life and in which he believed 
with all his heart. His confidence rooted itself in the 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 55 

promises of God and was confirmed by his personal 
experience. 

Conditions in the Home Mission Society were such as 
to challenge all the faith that the new Secretary brought 
to the task. For the preceding three years Doctor Cut- 
ting had filled the office, having had experience as pas- 
tor, editor, and teacher. He had also been Secretary of 
the Educational Commission. He was courteous, digni- 
fied, and genuinely interested in the building of God's 
kingdom. At the age of sixty-four he turned to a task 
so great that it would have taxed all his strength had 
conditions been more favorable than they were. The 
country was just emerging from a financial panic. Con- 
tributions had fallen ofif, and severe criticisms of the 
management were heard, especially from the West. 
Doctor Cutting's health suffered under the strain, and 
he broke down completely soon after relinquishing his 
office. The total contributions for the year 1878- 1879 
were only $86,569.55. It was clearly impossible for 
Baptists to go far toward winning " North America for 
Christ " on such a scale of giving. 

The new Secretary not only faced denominational 
apathy, but he must familiarize himself with his field and 
his force. The term " home missions " includes many 
and varied lines of operation. It is one task with a mul- 
titude of phases. Among those to be served are found 
negroes, Mexicans, Indians, foreign-speaking peoples, 
dwellers in Alaska, and the needy churches on the fron- 
tier. All these must be helped; but the method found 
most efficient in one case may fail utterly in another. 
Each department must be studied as if the Society had 
no other object of its care. In all of its work and al- 
ways the Society must seek spiritual ends. The ultimate 
purpose is to make men and women — and so America — 



56 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

like Jesus Christ. The task would be almost appallingly 
great, even were it financed automatically. But the ex- 
ecutive chief must not only see what ought to be done 
and plan how best to do it, but he must succeed in ex- 
tracting from semireluctant if not absolutely indifferent 
Baptists the money necessary to pay the bills. 

Entering upon his task as Corresponding Secretary, 
Doctor Morehouse was called upon, almost at once, to 
deal with a perplexing question of organization. At the 
annual meeting in 1879, the Home Mission Society had 
passed the following resolution : 

Resolvedj That we request the Board of the American Baptist 
Home Mission Society to perfect a plan of organization for a 
Woman's National Home Mission Society; that the new Society 
shall assume the distinctive work now being prosecuted by 
existing women's organizations, and shall provide for a central 
Board of Administration in the City of New York ; and that these 
Societies be requested after the adoption of this plan, to disband, 
and then reorganize in accordance with the specific recommenda- 
tions of the Board. 

This action was taken *' at the solicitation or by the 
consent of women representing different Societies," and 
the Home Mission Board issued a call for a meeting of 
the Baptist women interested in home missions to be 
held in New York City on January 14, 1880, for the pur- 
pose of organizing the new Society. About two hundred 
and fifty women were present, representing nine States, 
the great majority coming from New York and vicinity. 
When an expression was taken on the motion to pro- 
ceed to organize the new Society, the proposition was 
lost by an overwhelming majority, less than a dozen vot- 
ing in the affirmative. This action, coming as a distinct 
surprise to many, was explained by a " statement and 
resolutions " adopted by the conference. The resolu- 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD S7 

tions deplore the " unfortunate complications arising 
from the existence of two Woman's Home Mission So- 
cieties doing similar work, and define the future func- 
tions of the Boston Society and the Chicago Society, 
respectively." It is significant that Doctor Morehouse, 
who was sometimes charged with lack of sympathy with 
organizations of women, says of this conference, " Our 
opinion is that further agitation of this subject at pres- 
ent should be ruled out, while attention and efifort should 
be concentrated upon work to be done." He also testi- 
fies to the earnest, kind, and prayerful spirit which per- 
vaded the meeting. 

In a survey of the Society's work written by Doctor 
Morehouse seven years after he began his secretarial 
work, we are given his conception of his task. Writing 
of his service up to that time he says : 

During these years the ruling theory in the general manager's 
mind has been that the Society is set not alone for the cultiva- 
tion of mission fields, but also for the development of the mis- 
sionary spirit in the denomination ; not merely to be the passive 
recipient and dispenser of the people's offerings, but to stimulate 
them to larger offerings for Christ; in a word, not to slavishly 
follow sluggish public opinion, but to lead and direct it. In- 
stead of timidly walking by sight and waiting until requisite funds 
for an advance were actually in the treasury, when great oppor- 
tunities presented themselves, having faith in God and in his 
people, at the manifest bidding of Providence, we have launched 
out, with these words as our standing motto: "What should 
be done we must attempt to do." 

Later, in the same paper, he relieves the anxieties of 
the more conservative brethren by saying : 

Now, after having thoroughly tested the benevolence of the 
denomination, after knowing what grand things they can do in 
an emergency, and how they can be depended upon for steady 



58 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

pulling, it is proposed henceforth to keep out of debt by making 
appropriations for each year upon the basis of average receipts 
for the three preceding years. 

This was in reply to the critic who reminded him that 
the Society had run into debt, and that debts are awful 
things. To this Doctor Morehouse replies : 

There are worse things than a debt. Christian inertia, apathy, 
self-indulgence, worldly conformity, heartlessness, covetousness, 
and carping criticism are infinitely worse. 

The denomination responded at once to the challenge 
of the new administration. Contributions for the year 
ending April i, 1880, were $18,000 more than for the 
preceding year. The total receipts for the first seven 
years of Doctor Morehouse's administration showed a 
sixty-six per cent increase over the previous seven years, 
and totaled two-fifths of the amount received in the 
whole history of the Society up to that time. 

In his pastoral work in Michigan Doctor Morehouse 
had been an eye-witness of the struggles of weak 
churches to provide themselves with houses of worship. 
In fact, at East Saginaw, he had been a participant in 
such a struggle and knew by personal experience what 
it meant. The Home Mission Society had a fund from 
which it made loans, but it remained for the Executive 
Secretary to inaugurate and carry forward a campaign 
for the establishment of a " Gift Fund " that needy 
churches might be given the aid without which their 
building projects could not be realized. In the report of 
the Executive Board presented at Indianapolis in May, 
1 88 1, it is stated that 

in the mission fields of the Society, chiefly west of the Missis- 
sippi, there are eight hundred homeless churches, while among 
the Indians and the Freedmen there are at least five hundred 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 59 

more — one thousand three hundred homeless Baptist churches in 
our land. Statistics show that in our mission fields new churches 
arise on an average of one for every week in the year, so that in 
five years some two hundred and fifty churches needing edifices 
will be added to the list. Fifteen hundred houseless churches to 
be sheltered in the next five years! Can it be done? 

As there were insuperable legal obstacles to any change 
in the condition attached to the Church Edifice Loan 
Fund, it was decided to establish a Benevolent Depart- 
ment of that Fund. Conference with some of the larger 
contributors to the Loan Fund resulted in their consent 
to the transfer of over $70,000 from the old fund to the 
new, and contributions early in the year swelled the total 
of the Gift Fund to about $100,000. During the Society 
year, from May, 1881, to May, 1882, this enterprise 
commanded much of the Secretary's time. This ad- 
vance step marked a distinct epoch in the life of the 
Society, and hundreds of Baptist churches have reason 
to be grateful to the man who saw their need and led 
the denomination in an effort to meet it. 

In 1882 the Anniversaries were held in New York 
City, and the Home Mission Society celebrated its semi- 
centennial. An elaborate program was prepared by Doc- 
tor Morehouse, including addresses by such representa- 
tive denominational leaders as J. M. Gregory, William R. 
Williams, Lemuel Moss, H. G. Weston, and Martin B. 
Anderson. In the Jubilee Poem, written for the occa- 
sion by Dr. Sidney Dyer, appears the following stanza: 

When now the work grows slack and faith declines, 
And stinted gifts are brought to fill the storehouse, 

A clarion voice rings out along the lines, 
The rallying cry — 'tis money, men, and Morehouse. 

In introducing one of the speakers, Rev. Supply Qiase, 
of Michigan, Doctor Morehouse said : 



60 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

I began my ministry in 1864 in East Saginaw, Michigan, as a 
missionary of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. We 
worshiped in a little hall that accommodated about one hundred 
people, seated with common chairs, and no carpet on the floor. 
As the floors were uncarpeted, the people coming in made con- 
siderable noise. At my ordination, our brother Chase was 
present. I shall never forget a part of his charge to the con- 
gregation. I think it would be a good one to congregations 
gathering now. I have forgotten all but one sentence; it was 
this : " Brethren, be on time ; don't come thundering in half an 
hour late." 

In his address Mr. Chase referred to pioneer work in 
the West, and said: 

Your Secretary would not have been half so large a man as 
he is to-day if it Were not that he had been to Michigan. When 
I first saw him there the frontier had got over into the Saginaw 
Bay, or the Saginaw River, and he didn't look as if he was going 
to make much; but we found him there, as he said, in a build- 
ing that was gotten up for a wagon-shop, I should think, and 
you know what he said about the furniture. It stood right over 
one of the bayous of the Saginaw River where he could get the 
good, salubrious breezes, and you see what he has grown to be. 
He is a man among men now. 

Soon after Doctor Morehouse entered upon his duties 
he began a careful study of the v^ork done by the Home 
Mission Society during the years preceding his election 
to the secretaryship. This w^as done with a view to the 
increase of his personal efficiency ; but it resulted in pre- 
paring himi to make a valuable contribution to Baptist 
literature in the form of a " Jubilee Volume," recording 
the history of the Society for the first half-century of 
its existence. To this important task the Secretary de- 
voted much time and toil, often working far into the 
night that his many other duties might not be neglected. 
Even a glance at the table of contents will enable us to 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 6 1 

realize something of that which the preparation of this 
vokime must have cost in labor. Here are historical 
tables giving the names of mission stations for fifty 
years, the names of missionaries with date of beginning 
and duration of their services. P2ach State is studied by 
years, and its missions and missionaries tabulated. A 
carefully written historical sketch testifies to the pains- 
taking investigation which enabled Doctor Morehouse to 
prepare such a survey. ' 

Denominational confidence in the administration of 
the Home Mission Society was put to a severe test in 
1884, through the loss of more than $100,000 of invested 
funds. It would be unnecessary to refer to this unpleas- 
ant matter were it not that Doctor Morehouse, as the 
chief executive officer of the Society, was somewhat 
sharply criticized for failing to prevent this ahenation of 
funds. Mr. John H. Deane, of New York City, was a 
member of the Executive Board and its legal adviser. 
He had been highly successful in his business enterprises, 
and most generous in his contributions to our missionary 
Societies and to other religious undertakings. In April, 
1884, Mr. Deane made an assignment. In his capacity 
as counsel for the Board he had been the medium of com- 
munication between the Society and mortgagors, deliver- 
ing the proper papers and receiving the payments. Some 
of these payments were deposited to the account of 
" John H. Deane, Trustee." The courts ruled that these 
funds could not be restored to the Society, but must go 
into the general assignment for the benefit of all the 
creditors. Mr. Deane also invested some of the funds 
of the Society in second mortgages and upon property 
with unfinished houses. At no inconsiderable expense 
the Society, in order to protect itself, was compelled to 
pay off the first mortgages and to finish the houses. Mr. 



62 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Deane reimbursed the Society for a small portion of the 
loss, and gave his notes for much of the remainder. 
These notes, as they matured, he was unable to meet. 

At least one of our denominational papers indulged in 
a caustic arraignment of the Board and of the Corre- 
sponding Secretary. During the greater part of two 
years this unfortunate matter engaged much of the atten- 
tion of the denomination. Under great nervous strain, 
Doctor Morehouse won the admiration of fair-minded 
men by his frank, dignified, and Christian course. In 
the Board's report to the Society submitted in 1886, he 
made the following statement : 

It is indeed apparent now that the rules of the Board relating 
to its financial affairs were not sufficiently explicit in some re- 
spects. There was a lack of systematic division of labor and 
adjustment of responsibilities. There was laxness in the technical 
observance of some points, in consequence of unlimited con- 
fidence in one who was universally esteemed, and whose official 
word or act, as counsel of the Board, in regard to investments, 
was considered ultimate and right. . . The new rules and safe- 
guards adopted by the Board makes a recurrence of this sad 
experience well-nigh impossible. 

The continued financial support given the Society by in- 
dividuals and churches made it plain that confidence in 
Doctor Morehouse and in the Board remained stedfast, 
unshaken. 

Although attention was called to the importance of 
Utah as a home mission field in the report of the Board 
made in 1881, it was not until two years later that the 
Secretary succeeded in securing the money for the ad- 
vance work which he had proposed. By 1884 a new 
church-house had been erected In Salt Lake City, costing 
$13,000 and dedicated free of debt. A generous friend 
guaranteed the salary of a pastor — for one year at least — 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 63 

and Rev. H. G. DeWitt, a w.ell-known evangelist, began 
work in this Mormon stronghold. 

An ever-present problem faced by the Secretary was 
how to make one dollar do the work of two. The growth 
in contributions did not keep pace with the growing de- 
mands. In 1884 he called upon the denomination for an 
" Emergency Fund " of $50,000, over and above regular 
contributions, in order that important work might be car- 
ried forward. This effort resulted in securing $35,000 
by May, 1885. Following the annual meeting of that 
year, a campaign was begun for the endowment of Rich- 
mond Theological Seminary and, largely through the 
efforts of Doctor Morehouse, $50,000 was raised for this 
object. This year also saw $7,500 raised for the Indian 
University, and the inauguration of " Chapel Day " for 
Baptist Sunday Schools. 

As the fiscal year of 1885-1886 was drawing to a close 
it became clear that the indebtedness of $117,000, carried 
over from the previous year, would be increased unless 
strenuous preventive measures were taken. In fact, 
when the books were closed on April fifteenth, the debt 
amounted to almost $125,000. In March the Secretary, 
convinced that an effort should be made to remove this 
paralyzing burden, addressed himself to the task of rais- 
ing at least $100,000 of the amiount needed. The re- 
sponse was immediate and highly gratifying. Two men 
gave $30,000 each, other generous contributions were 
made, and before the close of June provision had been 
made for the entire indebtedness. 

One might assume that such a task as this which the 
Secretary had carried through would be quite enough 
to fill all of his thoughts and command all of his energies. 
It is with something of surprise that we find him making 
an impassioned appeal for Mexico at the very time when 



64 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

the debt of the Society had reached formidable propor- 
tions. While busied night and day in routine and in 
special tasks, Doctor Morehouse found time to write a 
poetical appeal in behalf of the Mexican work, which was 
used with great efifect at the annual meeting of 1886, 
held in Asbury Park, N. J. 

Prayer, Means, and Men for Mexico 

For kindred, country, church, we pray, 
For distant lands in sin and woe; 

Prayers rise like incense. Yet, to-day, 
Where are the prayers for Mexico? 

For fields at home, for fields abroad, 
The streams of Christian giving flow — 

Most blessed streams! But, O Lord God, 
Where are the means for Mexico? 

From papal night, turned toward the light, 
Souls, disenthralled, the truth would know; 

Ten million souls ! " The fields are white ! " 
Where are the men for Mexico? 

Here is our neighbor. Pass not by, 

Like priest and Levite long ago; 
Have pity! Help! Ring out the cry; 

Prayers, means, and men for Mexico. 

The appeal did not go unheeded, and $14,000 was se- 
cured for a mission property in the City of Mexico. 

Following the May meetings, the Secretary made his 
first extended tour among the mission fields of the far 
West. In his record of this trip most characteristically, 
he includes an orderly list of the places visited, accom- 
panied by a statement as to the distance between these 
points, together with the total number of miles traveled, 
12,433. By way of North Dakota, Montana, Washing- 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 65 

ton, and Oregon, he went to Alaska. Returning, he 
made his way to San Francisco, where he spent not a 
httle time visiting the Chinese quarters and in confer- 
ence regarding Baptist work among this people. One 
of the results of this trip was seen a little later when he 
raised $20,000 for Chinese mission headquarters in San 
Francisco. While his primary purpose in this visit was 
to make a careful study of material resources and of the 
people, securing information that would be of use to the 
Home Mission Society, nothing escaped him. He found 
out how much it costs to prepare an acre of ground for 
raising hops, what the average yield per acre of potatoes 
is, how far around and how tall the '' big trees " are, and 
has an interesting note on the cowboys. 

Doctor Morehouse had watched with interest the com- 
ing of French Canadians to New England, and was 
deeply concerned about their evangelization. Realizing 
the necessity for trained leaders if religious work was to 
be carried on among them successfully, he rejoiced in the 
opening of a French department at Newton Theological 
Institute. This was brought about in 1889, largely 
through the influence of Doctor Morehouse. 

In writing of his first ten years as Corresponding 
Secretary, Doctor Morehouse pointed to the increase in 
receipts, from all sources, from $124,000 in 1879, to 
$375,000 in 1889. The total receipts for the ten years 
reached $3,700,000, or $200,000 more than for the pre- 
ceding forty-seven years. During this decade the num- 
ber of schools grew from eight to twenty, and six hun- 
dred and eighty-seven church edifices were built; more 
than twice as many as in the previous history of the 
Society. This great advance did not happen; it was 
brought about by patient, intelligent, and unremitting 
toil. 

E 



66 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

At the conclusion of ten years of arduous service in 
which he had taken little time for rest, the Executive 
Board voted Doctor Morehouse a leave of absence for 
three months, which he spent in European travel. In a 
letter to the Board expressing his appreciation of their 
action, he wrote : " The ten years' arduous and almost 
incessant service has allowed so little opportunity for 
recreation, that in all these years the Secretary has not 
had the benefit, at any time in one year, of three weeks' 
absolute respite from toil, while some years have wit- 
nessed hardly a break in the service." He was tired 
and worn, and wrote his mother from Glasgow that on 
the voyage over he was " quite content to sit and sit and 
sit." He kept a full diary during these weeks, and it is 
a record of constant activity and of keen enjoyment. It 
would be a delight to journey with him; to look through 
his eyes upon the Trossachs, Edinburgh, Melrose, Dur- 
ham, and Ely ; to wander with him through mighty Lon- 
don; to enjoy, with him, the ride up the storied Rhine, 
and linger in charming Luzerne; to tramp by his side 
up the Corner Grat and over the lower glaciers near 
Chamounix; to share his gondola as he floats over the 
canals of Venice, and participate in his delight over the 
art treasures of Florence; to be his comrade in ancient 
Rome and in beautiful but dirty Naples. In his diary, 
and in his letters to his mother — of which there were 
many — ^he writes of increasing vigor. Toward the last 
of his outing he speaks of his desire to be back at his desk 
and busy in his accustomed work. 

For many years Doctor Morehouse had made a home 
for his mother, and had found strength and cheer in her 
companionship. Some who read these words will recall 
the benignant face of that mother, and the beautiful de- 
votion of the son to his mother and of the mother to her 




EMMA BENTLEY MOREHOUSE 
About 1856 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 67 

son. She took a just but quiet pride in the success of 
her boy, and he centered in her the love of a true son 
and of one who keenly appreciated home life. She made 
for him the only real home that he ever knew after he 
had grown to manhood; and when, in 1891, God took 
her to himself, the loneliness of the son w^as all the 
greater because of the close and constant companionship 
which they had enjoyed through the many years. 

Those who knew them both have often spoken of the 
traits of character common to mother and son. The 
poise, the generosity, the capacity for sustained effort, 
the kindliness of spirit which made the son so conspicu- 
ously useful to his generation, were all found in the 
mother also. When she gave to the world this son, she 
gave of her own fine qualities of mind and heart. 

Possibly the darkest hour in the life of Doctor More- 
house was when, in 1891, charges were made affecting 
his character for integrity. Following a frank and manly 
statement of all the facts in the case made by him at the 
annual meeting of the Society held in Cincinnati, he was 
reelected with unprecedented enthusiasm and unanimity. 
While he was deeply touched by this expression of de- 
nominational confidence and love, it is doubtful if he suc- 
ceeded in completely throwing off the depression which 
such an experience tended to create. For eleven years 
he had been doing the work of three men. In spite of 
his marvelous vigor he was sadly worn. To an intimate 
friend he expressed the conviction about this time that he 
had not long to live. 

In an address before the Alumni of Rochester Theo- 
logical Seminary given in May, 1892, Doctor Morehouse 
suggested that our theological seminaries undertake to 
extend their work by providing courses of reading and 
summer schools for ministers who had not been able to 



68 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

secure college and seminary training. This address was 
printed in pamphlet form, and awakened such interest 
that in December of the same year a conference of rep- 
resentatives from our seminaries was held in New York 
City. All agreed that united action was necessary and 
that a course of reading and study should be outlined to 
extend over a period of some years. A committee was 
appointed, of which Doctor Morehouse was made chair- 
man, to formulate a plan which should be submitted to 
the faculties of the institutions represented in the con- 
ference, and, later on, to the conference itself. The Bap- 
tist Education Society was asked to consider whether 
its aid might not be given toward promoting this enter- 
prise. While there is no evidence that the hopes of 
Doctor Morehouse were fully realized, the importance 
of his suggestion has been increasingly felt by all who 
are in touch with denominational affairs. His estimate 
that four-fifths of our Baptist ministers have never had 
college or seminary training reveals a condition that 
should awaken the denomination to some adequate action. 
Since he made his plea non-denominational training- 
schools have sprung up here and there, often with illy 
balanced curricula and overemphasis on comparatively 
unimportant matters. The task which Doctor More- 
house saw and pointed out still remains to be done. 

When the report of the committee on nominations was 
submitted at the annual meeting of the Society held in 
Philadelphia, May, 1892, the chairman of that commit- 
tee, Hon. C. W. Kingsley, prefaced his report by the 
statement that Doctor Morehouse declined a reelection. 
Although every effort had been made to induce him to 
reconsider his action, the Corresponding Secretary in- 
sisted upon being released from the duties of his office. 
The communication from Doctor Morehouse to the Exec- 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 69 

utive Board, in which he presented his resignation, was 
then read. After referring to a proposal to terminate his 
services which he had made to the Board two years be- 
fore, he continues : 

The suggestions then advanced for the step have additional 
weight with me now. I think it best for the Society that the 
change should take place. But quite apart from this and more 
immediatel}'' related to this decision are considerations of a per- 
sonal nature. They relate to my powers of endurance. For thir- 
teen years I have served the Society in my present position. . . 
From ten to twelve hours daily have been given to the work. 
I am thankful to say that I have not been laid aside one day by 
sickness. But I am conscious that I must have relief from 
the responsibilities and severely taxing duties of administration 
of a Societ}' whose complex work imposes upon its chief ex- 
ecutive officer greater burdens than are known in any other mis- 
sionary or benevolent organization in this country; for the 
Society is practically three Societies in one. . . I feel that I have 
accomplished my work for the Society. Another, younger, 
stronger, more courageous, more resourceful, with new views, 
spirit, and methods, may be found to lead on to yet larger 
operations. 

With deep regret the Society accepted his resignation, 
adopting the following preambles and resolutions: 

Whereas, Rev. H. L. Morehouse, D. D., has irrevocably re- 
signed his position as Corresponding Secretary, which office he 
has filled with signal ability for thirteen years, and 

Whereas, It seems proper that some suitable expression be 
made of the appreciation in which the Society holds the valuable 
services rendered by Doctor Morehouse, therefore 

Resolved, That H. L. Morehouse be, and hereby is, elected 
Honorary Secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society. 

Resolved, That in recognition of his long and faithful service 
In the past, and his expressed willingness to assist his successor 
in the future, his present salary be continued for the ensuing 
year. 



70 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Resolved, That a copy of these Preambles and Resolutions be 
entered upon the Society's records, and a copy be also sent 
to Dr. Morehouse. 

The adoption of these resolutions was moved by Dr. 
George Dana Boardman in words so felicitous and so 
representative of general denominational feeling regard- 
ing the retirement of Doctor Morehouse that they are 
peculiarly illuminating : 

Mr. President : Will you at this point entertain a motion touch- 
ing so much of this report of the Committee as has already been 
read? (I will.) I move then, sir, the adoption of the report 
so far as read. I offer this motion with great reluctance and 
also with great heartiness. With great reluctance because I feel 
that the services which our Corresponding Secretary has rendered 
the Home Mission Society are almost incalculable. 

Indeed, nothing but the strong assurance of the Nominating 
Committee that they have done their utmost to secure his reten- 
tion, and his own absolute determination to retire, would permit 
me to offer this motion. At the same time, notwithstanding this 
sincere reluctance, I offer the motion with sincere heartiness. I 
feel that it is but just, as well as decorous, that we adopt the 
recommendations of the Committee concerning our honored 
brother. I esteem it a personal privilege and honor that I 
am permitted to echo this Society's grateful appreciation of the 
signal ability, the rare sagacity, the painstaking fidelity, the in- 
corruptible honesty, the tireless devotion, the conspicuous suc- 
cess with which our Corresponding Secretary has discharged for 
so many years the numerous and complicated duties of his 
great office. Sir, I never offered a motion, on the one hand 
more reluctantly, or, on the other hand more enthusiastically. 

When it was known that Doctor Morehouse had re- 
tired from the position which he had so long and so ably 
filled, he was deluged with letters of appreciation from 
missionaries, field workers, and a great host of personal 
friends. If, during the years of his service, he had, at 
any time, questioned as to his hold upon the confidence 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — FIRST PERIOD 7 1 

and affection of the denomination, all such doubts must 
have been swept aside by this great wave of esteem and 
love. 

When Rev. C. R. Henderson, D. D., who was elected 
to succeed Doctor Morehouse, declined to serve, the 
Executive Board at its meeting in July, requested Doctor 
Morehouse to " serve us as Acting Corresponding Sec- 
retary until the position shall be filled." In December 
the Board elected Gen. T. J. Morgan as Corresponding 
Secretary, and at the same time broadened its work by 
creating the office of " Field Secretary." To this office 
they elected Doctor Morehouse, who accepted and began 
his work March i, 1893. 



FIELD SECRETARY 

THE Home Mission Society was peculiarly fortunate 
in being able to retain the services of Doctor More- 
house. General Morgan, unfamiliar with the duties of 
his office, found at his side a man thoroughly conversant 
with all the details of home mission work, and ready to 
place at the disposal of the new Corresponding Secretary 
the results of patient study of home mission problems 
and the fruits of long experience. Freed from responsi- 
bility for administration. Doctor Morehouse was able to 
give himself to first-hand investigation of conditions in 
the field, and to such personal acquaintance with workers 
and phases of work as greatly increased the vitality of 
the contact between the Society and its representatives. 
In the late summer following Doctor Morehouse's en- 
trance upon his new duties, he visited eastern Canada 
and made a careful study of Baptist work in this Roman 
Catholic stronghold. On arriving at Sorel, he found 
the town seething with excitement over the arrest of a 
Baptist colporter, who had been put into jail the previous 
evening. A municipal by-law prohibited the " use of 
insulting language on the street, or conduct that tends to 
gather a crowd and create a disturbance." The charge 
against the colporter was for violation of this law. The 
facts, as proved by trustworthy witnesses, were as fol- 
lows : The colporter, while walking through the park, saw 
two acquaintances sitting on a bench and, upon their in- 
vitation, joined them. The conversation turned upon re- 
ligious subjects, and one of the men produced a Roman 
72 



ff 



FIELD SECRETARY 73 

Catholic catechism and began asking questions concern- 
ing it. A small crowd gathered and the discussion be- 
came somewhat heated. A complaint was lodged against 
the colporter, and his arrest and imprisonment followed. 
He was found guilty and fined $200 or thirty days in 
jail. The death of the wife of the colporter, which 
followed closely upon this unhappy experience, was said 
to have been hastened if not caused by this persecution. 
The first French Protestant church in Canada was that 
organized at Grand Ligne in 1837, on a Baptist basis. 
This became the center of a somewhat extensive move- 
ment with outstations and missionaries. Doctor More- 
house met with the leaders of this mission and made a 
careful survey of the field and the forces. The results 
of his observations were embodied in articles contributed 
to the '* Home Mission Monthly," which are remarkable 
for the information which they furnish and the strength of 
the indictment brought against French Canadian Roman 
Catholicism. Here will be found a comprehensive sur- 
vey of the history of the French in Canada, and pro- 
phetic words, now being fulfilled, as to the danger to 
the commonwealth inhering in the presence of a mass of 
people using a foreign language and giving supreme de- 
votion to the pope at Rome. As revealing the attitude 
of the Roman Catholic leaders toward all dissent, at- 
tention is called to a bit of history made at Maskinonge, 
seventy-five miles northeast of Montreal. The bishop 
had decided to build a church most inconveniently lo- 
cated for the majority of the parishioners. The people 
settled upon a more convenient location and proceeded 
to erect a church-house. While the people were as- 
sembled in the new building the priest entered and, lift- 
ing aloft the crucifix, cried : " What is this building? A 
church? No. A chapel? No. It is only a dog's kennel ! 



74 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Cursed be this place! Cursed be this place! Cursed! 
Cursed ! Cursed ! '' 

Deeply stirred by that which he saw and heard, Doctor 
Morehouse sent to the " Monthly " a vivid portrayal of 
conditions in Roman Catholic Canada as contrasted with 
more Puritan New England. 

I have stood on the soil first pressed by representatives of 
these civilizations — at Plymouth, where the Protestant Pilgrims 
landed in 1620; at Tadoussac, by the junction of the broad St. 
Lawrence and the grand Saguenay, where the CathoUc Cartier 
landed in 1534, and at Quebec occupied by Champlain in 1608. 
Here was to be founded a "New England" — there a "New 
France." New England is a glorious reality; New France is 
still a dream. Note the contrasts in spirit, method, and results. 
Cartier's first act was to plant the cross with the French coat of 
arms affixed and dedicate the soil to St. Anne — the patron 
saint of Canada. The Pilgrims' first act was to kneel beneath 
the blue and dedicate this land to Christ and his truth. At 
Plymouth, the most precious thing is the Pilgrim's well-worn 
Bible; at Tadoussac, in the little old Jesuit chapel, the most 
precious thing is a small doll presented in 1747 by Louis XV, 
and marked "The Infant Jesus." On the hill at Plymouth is 
the majestic figure of Faith, buttressed by statues of Law, 
Liberty, Education, and Morality; on what was a part of the 
Plains' of Abraham at Quebec is a recently erected Jesuit statue 
of Loyola, trampling under foot a prostrate figure with a book 
in his hand. Here, the evolution of a new order of things — 
there, for two hundred and fifty years, adherence to the old 
order ; here, splendor — ^there, the shadows of medievalism ; — ^here, 
separation of Church and State — there, the State for the 
Church; here, freedom of thought and of conscience — there, re- 
pression, with mental and spiritual servitude; here, democracy — 
there, clerical absolutism; here, all mechanism for the production 
of the highest type of individual man — there, man mercilessly 
ground up for the machine; here, in 1638, a printing-press whose 
first issue was a pamphlet on Free Man — there, no printing-press 
until 1764, or one hundred and fifty-six years after the founding 
of Quebec; here, at the time of the Revolution, illiteracy the 
exception — there, illiteracy the rule; here, an open Bible — there, 



FIELD SECRETARY 75 

the Bible bound and burned to-day by priestly hands; here, the 
doctrine of justification by faith— there, the reproduction of 
the " Santa Scala " of Rome, which Luther left as the light broke 
into his soul ; here, Christ exalted— there, the adoration of saints 
and holy bones and stones; here, an independent nation — there, 
the "old man of the sea" on the neck of Quebec; the one a 
magnet attracting the world to itself — the other, repellent and 
shunned by the world's best blood ; the one a mighty current that 
has nourished the noblest characters, that has been as the water 
of life to the civilized world — the other, a sluggish, slimy stream, 
that has fructified nothing and given to mankind nothing note- 
worthy; the one a civilization where Protestant principles are 
regnant — the other, a civilization where medieval Romanism is 
rampant ; the one a helper — the other, a hindrance to gospel truth, 
to the finest type of Christian manhood, to the establishment of 
Christ's spiritual kingdom on earth — against the abhorrent forces 
of this Romish civilization we are contending, especially in New 
England — the old spirit of Rome, masked, but essentially un- 
changed. 

He Visited the French-Canadian communities in New 
England and in the light of the facts gathered, urged 
upon the denomination the importance of this section, 
with its rapidly growing French-Canadian population, as 
a field for home mission work. 

Returning from Canada and New England, the new 
Field Secretary attended the State Conventions in Wis- 
consin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, and 
then made his way to the " Cherokee Strip," which had 
just been opened for settlement. Many of the " boom- 
ers " were living in tents or sod houses. Quarrels over 
locations frequently resulted in bloodshed and loss of 
life. The towns were chaotic. While many of the peo- 
ple were professed Christians, the excitement, unrest, 
and lawlessness made efficient religious work most diffi- 
cult. The religious leader for such a place and time 
must have special qualifications for his task. The Home 



76 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Mission Society had such a man in Rev. L. J. Dyke, 
general missionary for Oklahoma Territory. Doctor 
Morehouse describes him as 

a man who can do an3i;hing, from securing sites for houses, 
getting contributions, making out bills for lumber, designing and 
superintending the erection of chapels, to preaching the gospel 
in any place at any time to all kinds of people. He can rough 
it with anybody and all the while, in the midst of arduous and 
often trying situations, maintaining a cheery and hearty manner 
which gives him access at once to the confidence of the people. 

The new settlers had little means and could not be 
expected to contribute very largely toward the support 
of the pastors or missionary workers. In the rural dis- 
tricts " farmer preachers " were to be found ; men who 
worked their farms and preached as opportunity offered. 
These men, however sincere and earnest, were usually 
without education and could not be depended upon to 
lead in aggressive missionary work. The conclusion 
reached by the Field Secretary was that five chapels and 
a corresponding number of missionaries were needed at 
once, and that the Home Mission Society must assume 
the responsibility for the greater part of the expense 
involved. 

Now is the time to possess this land for Christ, Give the old, 
pioneer missionary Society the means, and nothing will be left 
undone to occupy it. Who will have the honor of a worthy part 
in this undertaking? 

Reading his record of this trip among the Indians and 
noting the deep interest in these native Americans which 
is revealed, one cannot fail to think back to the young 
lad in Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and the night when 
he listened to the Rev. Peter Jones, the Indian preacher. 



FIELD SECRETARY yj 

Was it then that the desire was born to have some part 
in giving the Indian a chance for civilization and 
Christianity ? 

These days were crowded with interesting experiences. 
At Anadarko he was entertained in the home of the 
leading Indian trader, and watched the red men as they 
came to the store to trade and as fresh meat was issued 
to them. Numerous conferences were held with the In- 
dians, at which Lone Wolf, Big Tree, Stumbling Bear, 
Poor Buffalo, and other chiefs were present. Doctor 
Morehouse was always introduced as the " Big Chief 
from New York." The meetings were held in teepees : on 
one occasion in a grist-mill. Opposition developed. Poor 
Buffalo would favor the grant of land for mission pur- 
poses on condition that the white man help him in his big 
meeting sun-dance. Atpitone had certain Methodist affil- 
iations, and was not favorable to the Baptist proposition. 
After repeated conferences and much discussion the de- 
sired signatures were secured, and the Home Mission So- 
ciety was authorized to build its chapel for work among 
the Blanket Indians. 

The descriptions in Doctor Morehouse's note-book, 
although fragmentary, are of great interest. Writing 
of a visit to Little Bear's teepee he says : 

Entrance with flap to cover it. Fire in the center, with elevated 
iron frame over it, like large gridiron; boil meat; boil water. 
Floor clean; two beds; Mrs, Little Bear very ladylike; natural 
graces of manner; good-looking; affable; hearty, cheery laugh. 
Mr. Little Bear very polite; asked me to pray, said, " My teepee; 
wife, brother, child. You pray to our Father." Prayed with 
them and for them. 

Writing of the appearance of some young Comanches 
he describes them as painted chrome yellow and vermilion 
red. All wore scalp-locks, with side locks done up 



yS HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

in rich furs or red cloth. They went bareheaded, and 
wore dark caHco shirts, red blankets, and yellow leggings 
with elaborate leather fringes extending from knee to 
ankle. 

He presents analyses of character, writes of schools 
visited, of the work of Roman Catholics, the matter of 
Indian lands, mortality among the Indians, and of the 
Indians educated in Eastern schools. Of this latter class 
he says that the Carlisle plan of putting out young In- 
dians among farmers during vacations, seems to have 
little or no value. They are petted and made much of 
by their white employers, and when they return they 
want the same kind of treatment. They will not do 
hard work. Returning to their people they are looked 
upon with contempt and called " white men." They 
have little uplifting power, and a majority return to their 
former habits of life. 

" Lost on Comanche Prairie " heads one of the pages 
in the little book where Doctor Mbrehouse recorded some 
of the experiences of this trip : 

Took wrong road and discovered it too late to turn back. 
No water for many miles behind us. Deepening shadows: path 
hardly visible : stars shining : lightning playing in the southwest. 
Saw light in the distance. Halted near dry bed of stream skirted 
by trees. Only one match left! How careful with that! All 
right. Got sticks for fire and lighted lamp. Little oil. Vaughn 
and I went on tour of investigation through brush and thorns of 
ravine towards dim light one-half mile distant. Two Comanche 
teepees. Light went out as we neared them. Dogs barked. Our 
shouts answered from within. Indian appeared. Vaughn said 
few words and used sign-language. Went into tent. Eating 
supper: used fingers: few dishes: fire in center. Got oil for 
50 cents. Three men, two women in one teepee. Went back, 
camped, got fuel for camp-fire, and supper. Coyotes howled and 
barked. Girls slept in one wagon: I in the other: Hicks and 
Vaughn by side of wagon. Nothing disturbed us. 



FIELD SECRETARY 79 

Following his visit to the Cherokee Strip, Doctor 
Morehouse made a careful study of conditions among 
the negroes of the South. His interest in the African 
race did not begin with his entrance upon the duties of 
Corresponding Secretary of the Home Mission Society, 
for as a lad he was an ardent Republican of the " Aboli- 
tionist " type. His opposition to slavery was based upon 
profound conviction, and his sympathy with the enslaved 
was keen and abiding. Such a man coming to such a 
place of opportunity as was occupied by the executive 
of the Home Mission Society, could not fail to be 
profoundly interested in the welfare of the people for- 
merly held in bondage. Among the many articles writ- 
ten by Doctor Morehouse few, if any, reveal more clearly 
his attention to detail and his comprehensive grasp of a 
situation than one appearing in the " Home Mission 
Monthly " for March, 1894, under the heading, " Planta- 
tion Life of the Colored People." Beginning with a study 
of the proportion of plantation negroes to city negroes, he 
shows that the great majority are country dwellers, the 
percentage ranging from eighty in Louisiana to ninety- 
eight in Mississippi. The homes of the majority are the 
rude cabins of the slave period. " Dreary, dirty, deso- 
late, dilapidated, is the fitting description of hundreds 
of their cabins, in which thousands of the colored people 
dwell." In some cases he was agreeably surprised to 
find canopied bedsteads, good furniture, a sewing- 
machine, and pictures on the rough board interior. As 
illustrating the manner of life common in some of these 
homes, he tells of two girls who came to one of the So- 
ciety's schools. They were given a room, plainly but 
comfortably furnished. " A few days later the matron, 
on a tour of inspection, was surprised to find that there 
were no sheets on the bed. The girls, when asked about 



8o HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

it, replied that they supposed the white sheets were for 
ornament and so, before retiring, they removed, carefully 
folded, and laid them aside." He says that hundreds of 
thousands of the negroes have never slept between sheets ; 
hundreds of thousands slept in their clothes between 
old blankets on the meanest apologies for beds. 

In writing of plantation morals, Doctor Morehouse 
declares that the one-room cabin is a curse. It is death 
to all delicate feeling. When husband and wife and ten 
or twelve children live and sleep together in one room, 
the moral sense becomes coarsened and callous. While 
intemperance is not so great an evil among plantation 
negroes as among those in the cities, it is still an evil of 
large dimensions. The gambling propensity is strong. 
'' Snuff-dipping " is common, and the Home Mission 
schools have to contend most vigorously with this evil. 
The social evil flourishes to such an extent that many 
who would be treated elsewhere as outcasts retain their 
standing in society. Slavery had much to do with de- 
bauching the character of the negro. 

The public schools for plantation negroes are found to 
be very inferior, as a rule, and continue only from two 
to four months of the year. Many have very faint con- 
ceptions of education. A colored preacher said : " When 
I couldn't spell chicken, nor compute the cost of thirty 
chickens at fifteen cents each, I was called professor, be- 
cause I was the only black person in the county who could 
read." Salaries are very low, and teachers often in- 
competent. 

Services in most of the plantation churches are held 
once a month; sometimes twice a month. The church 
buildings, although so exceedingly plain, are, as a rule, 
much superior to the homes of the people. The music 
is a mixture of old plantation songs and " gospel hymns." 



FIELD SECRETARY 8 1 

The hymns are " lined out " two lines at a time, as many 
of the people cannot read. Doctor Morehouse tells of a 
service which he attended where the congregation was 
divided into companies of twenty-five persons each, these 
companies having the names of the twelve tribes of 
Israel. Each tribe had its captain, and they entered into 
a vigorous competition as to which tribe should raise 
the largest amount of money. The religious " experi- 
ences " present an interesting psychological study. Some 
have visions, hear voices, and have inward revelations. 
Conversion is a terrible and painful process. The mourn- 
ers go for days and weeks before they " pull through." 
A local preacher told Doctor Morehouse that a common 
experience as related to the church included going to 
hell, pursuit by a big black man or demon, and rescue by 
a white being who proves to be the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Moral standards among the church-members are low, 
and discipline difficult. 

This careful study of conditions formed the basis for 
a fervid appeal to Northern Baptists that they furnish 
the Home Mission Society with funds for the adequate 
prosecution of work among Southern negroes. His find- 
ings constitute a " state paper " of the first order of im- 
portance, the value of which has not been lost by the 
passing of the years. 

In the fall of 1894 a most important conference was 
held at Fortress Monroe, when a joint committee of 
seven from the Home Board of the Southern Baptist 
Convention and a like number from the Home Mission 
Society met to consider work among the Southern ne* 
groes. This committee unanimously agreed that the 
Home Board of the Southern Baptist Convention should 
appoint an advisory committee at each point where a 
school controlled by the Home Mission Society is, or 

F 



82 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

should be, located, said advisory committee to exercise 
such functions as should be suggested by the Home Mis- 
sion Society; that the Southern Baptist Convention 
should appeal to its constituency for moral and financial 
support of these schools, and that these local committees 
should encourage promising young colored people to at- 
tend these institutions. It was also agreed that the 
Home Mission Society and the Home Board of the 
Southern Baptist Convention should cooperate in mission 
work among the negroes in connection with Baptist 
State bodies, white and colored, in holding institutes, in 
appointment of general missionaries, and in the better or- 
ganization of the missionary work. The matter of terri- 
torial limitations of work among native white people, the 
Indians, and the foreign population, also came up for 
consideration, and the following minute was adopted : 

We believe that for the promotion of fraternal feeling and 
of the best interests of the Redeemer's kingdom, it is inexpedient 
for two different organizations of Baptists to solicit contributions 
or to establish missions in the same localities : and for this 
reason we recommend to the Home Mission Board of the South- 
ern Baptist Convention, and to the American Baptist Home Mis- 
sion Society that in the prosecution of their work already begun 
on contiguous fields, or on the same field, all antagonism be 
avoided, and that their officers and employees be instructed to 
cooperate in all practicable ways in the spirit of Christ. That we 
further recommend to these bodies and their agents in opening 
new work to direct their efforts to localities not already occupied 
by the other. 

Had these recommendations been carried out in letter and 
in spirit, American Baptists would have been spared some 
most unhappy experiences. That they were not carried 
out, subsequent history made in New Mexico and Okla- 
homa abundantly testifies. In this conference Doctor 



FIELD SECRETARY 83 

Morehouse occupied a prominent place, and the conclu- 
sions reached greatly rejoiced his heart. His deep in- 
terest in the welfare of the negro race led him to covet 
the help of Southern Baptists in efforts to lift up a people 
whose history had been marked by ignorance and op- 
pression. 

In a visit to California and Arizona in October of this 
year, Doctor Morehouse made twenty-two addresses in 
twenty-three days, in addition to attendance upon numer- 
ous conferences. In San Francisco he looked into the 
conditions of Baptist work among the Chinese, the Ger- 
mans, and the Scandinavians, and visited the Chinese 
quarter, opium joints, et cetera. One result of this visit 
was a change in the method of dealing with the Chinese. 
Up to this time a missionary of the Society had been in 
charge of this work. It was decided to bring the Chinese 
work into closer relationship with other missionary work, 
and to that end the oversight of Chinese missions was 
referred to State Conventions and their general superin- 
tendents. He found only about twelve hundred Baptists 
in San Francisco all told, and almost none of wealth. 

Three articles in the " M'onthly '' for June, 1895, em- 
body the facts secured and the convictions formed con- 
cerning Mexico In a visit made to that country by Doctor 
Morehouse during the . preceding winter. He gives a 
condensed, but most informing sketch of Mexican history 
before the Conquest, discusses the Influence of Roman 
Catholicism, and depicts the struggle between the State 
and the Roman Catholic church. It would be well-nigh 
Impossible to find, in the same space, a more comprehen- 
sive survey of the life of our neighboring republic. He 
makes clear the papal claim' to absolute supremacy In 
civil as well as in religious affairs, and shows how this 
claim was enforced for almost three hundred years. No- 



84 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

where will be found a more vivid picture of the struggle 
between the spirit of democracy and that of autocracy, 
than is presented in this review of the rise and develop- 
ment of the Mexican republic. With this outline of Mexi- 
can history and picture of Mexican conditions as a basis, 
he presents a powerful plea for increased missionary 
effort that these people may be given the gospel. 

For many months the Field Secretary gave the major 
part of his time to the task of realizing in concrete form 
the plan of cooperation agreed upon at the Fortress Mon- 
roe Conference. North Carolina was the first State in 
which the plan went into effect. The State was divided 
into districts, each of which had a missionary, and, after 
not a little preliminary work, the first " New Era Insti- 
tute" was held in Winston, N. C, in January, 1896. 
Three days were devoted to lectures and discussions. 
Some of those in attendance came long distances on 
horseback, and all were enthusiastic over the results. One 
negro preacher said : " I have been so highly blessed that 
I hardly know what to say. I can say, ^ Evermore for 
us this bread.' Whenever I can reach the institute I 
shall go. I can't take it all in. I get some crumbs from 
this lecture, some from that, and when I get them all 
together I'll have bread.'' Doctor Morehouse was inde- 
fatigable in his efforts to make this new undertaking suc- 
cessful, and that which was accomplished — more than 
can be measured — was largely due to his untiring zeal 
and wise leadership. He addressed the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention upon this subject, as well as several white 
and colored State Conventions. 

Not long after the initiation of the plan of cooperation. 
Doctor Morehouse presented an elaborate paper on " The 
New Negro " at the " Convocation of American Baptist 
Missions," held at the University of Chicago. He gave 



FIELD SECRETARY 85 

it as his deliberate judgment after thirty years of observa- 
tion and study, and after recent careful investigation and 
wide travel in the South, that the negroes have entered 
upon a new era, industrially, morally, intellectually, and 
religiously. Hundreds of thousands of them own their 
own homes ; multitudes of them are pursuing the higher 
studies, and many of them are already taking rank in 
the professions of teaching, medicine, law, ministry, and 
journalism. He called attention to the significant fact 
that probably one-fourth of all the so-called negroes in 
this country are really a mixed race, entitled to be rec- 
ognized as Afro-Americans, with special emphasis upon 
the last word. 

In the Convocation session devoted to " Our Foreign 
Population," Doctor Morehouse read a paper, carefully 
prepared, upon missionary work in Mexico, based upon 
an extended tour of observation made but a few months 
before. Participating in the discussion upon the " Amer- 
ican City," Doctor Morehouse declared it to be the policy 
of the Home Mission Society to lay hold upon the cities 
throughout the West as strategic missionary points. He 
said that the Society was ready, just as soon as money 
is available, to enter into organic, hearty cooperation with 
city mission societies for aggressive work in all the great 
cities of the country. In 1898 this suggestion found em- 
bodiment in action, when the Home Mission Society en- 
tered into cooperative city mission work in Chicago. This 
Convocation, the value of which was very great, orig- 
inated in the fertile brain of Doctor Morehouse, and his 
personal contribution to its success was recognized by 
all present. 

The year 1896 saw the establishment of more intimate 
relations between the Home Mission Society and the 
Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society of 



S6 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

New England. This was the realization of a constant 
and deep-seated desire cherished by the Field Secretary. 
The new plan of cooperation aimed at increased unity 
and efficiency, ends that always had a strong appeal to 
Doctor Morehouse. The former cordial relations be- 
tween the two Societies were fully conserved, and these 
relations were extended and strengthened. It was agreed 
that the Woman's Society should retain its essential au- 
tonomy, electing its own officers, fixing their salaries, and 
publishing its own report. The Woman's Society was to 
include the general work of the Home Mission Society in 
presenting their work, and to cooperate with the General 
Society in promoting its interests among the churches. 
The Home Mission Society was to provide, on the pro- 
gram of its annual meetings, for the presentation of the 
work of the Woman's Society, and to publish a synopsis 
thereof in the annual report. " Home Mission Echoes," 
the organ of the Woman's Society, was to be published 
in the interests of both Societies. It will not be difficult 
for those who knew Doctor Morehouse to discover, in 
this agreement, indications of his capacity and passion for 
efficient cooperation. The task of editing the Home Mis- 
sion Society department of " Echoes " fell upon the 
Field Secretary. 

Owing in part to the financial panic of 1893, the Home 
Mission Society had been unable to secure funds to meet 
its expenses, and in March, 1897, the Society announced 
that by the end of the fiscal year its indebtedness would 
probably amount to $180,000. The Foreign Society was 
also loaded with a great debt. At this juncture, Mr. J. 
D. Rockefeller came forward with a proposition to give 
$250,000 toward the combined indebtedness of $486,000, 
on condition that the whole amount be raised on or be- 
fore July first. This generous challenge gave new hope 



3 



FIELD SECRETARY 87 

to the Secretaries, and it also laid upon them a great, 
even if a welcome task. Doctor Morehouse gave him- 
self without stint to the effort made to meet Mr. Rocke- 
feller's offer, and wrought unceasingly through the 
weeks preceding the Anniversaries. For the first time 
since beginning his work for the Home Mission Society 
he was laid aside by illness. Few men have surpassed 
him in ability for sustained toil, but even his splendid 
physique could not endure the strain which he put upon 
it during those days of unremitting labor. For a time 
he was critically ill. 

Few and far between were the vacations taken by 
Doctor Morehouse, and it was only through the insistence 
of friends that he was induced to loaf for a time during 
the summer following his illness. Even then his loafing 
meant anything but intellectual inactivity. His diary 
covering this outing, inscribed " Trip to Maritime Prov- 
inces; Summer of 1897; Acadia University," tells of the 
ocean voyage to Portland and thence to St. Johns, N. B., 
and reveals that passion for facts which never seemed 
to grow feeble. Under the head of " Acadia University " 
he has a comprehensive summary of the important facts 
concerning this honored institution. A glance at the 
items which he recorded will reveal the thoroughness of 
his investigations : " Founded — New Act of Incorpora- 
tion — Property — Buildings — Valuation — Endowment — 
Other Income — Debts — Ministerial Education — Needs — 
Nova Scotia — Baptist Ability — Isolation — Rootage of In- 
stitution — Salaries — Faculty — Educational Campaign — 
Biblical Study — Religious Life — Feeder to the United 
States." For good measure he throws in a note on the 
New England immigrants who occupied the farms of the 
expelled Acadians, and finds among these New Engend- 
ers the seeds of the later, abundant Baptist harvest. He 



88 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

speaks of repeated conferences with Doctor Trotter and 
with other leading Baptists of Nova Scotia, and we may 
be sure that he was all the time saturating his mind 
with information concerning every phase of religious 
work in this part of the great world field. 

From Wolfville he passed on to Halifax, Truro, Sid- 
ney, and North Sidney, where he joined Dr. Thomas S. 
Barbour. At least a few who may read this chronicle 
will be interested in an account of his fishing trip, es- 
pecially as it is headed " Friday, August 13th " : 

Arose at 5 a. m. At 6.40 left for cod-fishing. Mr. Cameron in 
charge. At N. Sidney took on Doctor Barbour, his daughter, 
Louise, and his son, Harris, also Miss Armstrong and her two 
brothers. Wind brisk. Went out about five miles from N. 
Sidney and two or three miles from shore. Began fishing about 
9.30, anchoring in about 70 ft. of water. Wind increased and 
no cessation at noon. No dinner eaten. 

Kept on fishing until about 3 p. m. when wind blew a gale. 
Cross seas, high waves ; all most solicitous but kept calm. I was 
not sick at all, but the two young ladies and one of the boys 
were. Didn't dare to pull up anchor or leave lest we be 
capsized. About 4 p. m. the wind abated and we cut anchor 
rope, took tack in sail and hoisted it, when we discovered a 
tug in the distance making for us. It proved to be a tug for our 
rescue. Mrs. Armstrong had become greatly concerned for us, as 
had Mrs. Barbour and many others. Our boat would have 
weathered the blow as the wind went down, but we were towed 
in with rejoicing on every side. The danger lay in the fact 
that the boat had no stay for its one mast, which was liable to be 
snapped off or wrenched out of its socket by the sharp motion 
of the waves. An experience not to be forgotten. Boat 9 f t. 6 x 
22 ft. Mast 32 ft. 

It is passing strange that the man who describes this 
experience so minutely, even down to the inch measure- 
ment of the boat, should be content to leave us in utter 
ignorance as to whether or not they caught any cod. 



FIELD SECRETARY 89 

Following this thrilling piscatorial adventure, he visited 
Prince Edward Island and, after a short stay there, 
reached St. Johns in time to attend the Baptist Conven- 
tion of the Maritime Provinces ; then — gladly, no doubt — 
turned his face toward his office in New York with its 
familiar routine of work. 

The prodigious amount of work undertaken by Doctor 
Morehouse and the amount of time which he devoted to 
the duties of his office find illustration in a series of ar- 
ticles which he contributed to the " Baptist Union " about 
this time, and which were subsequently published in the 
" Home Mission Monthly," and in tract form. These 
articles present a most comprehensive and informing sur- 
vey of the work of the Home Mission Society from the 
time of its organization. For historical value they are 
of unsurpassed importance. One can readily understand 
why Doctor Morehouse worked far into the night, for 
months and even for years, when the scope and difficulty 
of his tasks are appreciated. 

The Field Secretary delivered a notable address before 
the Commission on Systematic Beneficence at the Anni- 
versaries held in Rochester in May, 1898. In this ad- 
dress he spoke plainly concerning the chaotic conditions 
under which the denomination was undertaking to carry 
on its missionary work. His plea was for unification of 
effort on the part of all members of the church, old and 
young, male and female. He declared that scatteration, 
not concentration of effort, is the rule in many churches. 

Simultaneously, within a single month the church makes its 
yearly offerings to one object; the Sunday School contributes to 
another; the Young People's Society is collecting funds for yet 
another; a Woman's Foreign Mission Society and a Woman's 
Home Mission Society are soliciting contributions from the 
women for their special work ; while King's Daughters, children's 



90 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

bands, and baby bands are gathering funds according to their 
own fancy. . . Much of this benevolent activity is without the 
recognition or sanction of the church. The work is in the 
church, but not of the church. 

After referring to the work of the women's Societies, 
he sums up as follows : 

The great underlying theory of this whole matter may be 
thus stated: To make the church itself, not every group therein, 
the unit of beneficent activity: to restore the church to its 
proper place and functions in these things: to have all forms of 
beneficence therein recognized, sanctioned, and in some degree, 
at least, directed by it: to increase the sense of church respon- 
sibility for the systematical development of individual liberality 
and conversely to increase the sense of individual responsibility 
for the exaltation of the church above all other organizations 
therein: to unify and combine unrelated bands into a solid 
phalanx moving in unison, shoulder to shoulder, heart-beat to 
heart-beat. 

Nineteen years after these words were spoken our de- 
nomination adopted the unified budget; but he who saw 
so clearly and stated so convincingly the need of increased 
unity of effort was not permitted to see the full triumph 
of the principle of which he had been the tireless 
champion. 

The opening of Cuba and Porto Rico for missionary 
work led to a conference between the representatives of 
the Home Mission Society and the Home Mission Board 
of the Southern Baptist Convention. These representa- 
tives met in joint session in Washington on November 
23, 1898, and agreed that the Home Mission Society 
should carry on work in Porto Rico and in two of the 
eastern provinces of Cuba, while the remaining prov- 
inces of Cuba should constitute the field of the Home 
Mission Board. At this same conference the relations 



FIELD SECRETARY QI 

of these two bodies in the Indian and Oklahoma Terri- 
tories were carefully considered, and a resolution was 
adopted that " there should be harmony among the Bap- 
tist workers " in these fields. In order that such har- 
mony might be secured the Secretaries 'of the Home 
Mission Board and of the Home Mission Society were 
requested to visit these Territories, with authority to 
associate with themselves brethren from neighboring 
States as advisers. In February of 1900, Doctor More- 
house started on a tour of the South, going as far as 
Texas and visiting the negro schools under the care of 
the Home Mission Society. The trip was no holiday 
excursion. In some of the schools difficulties existed 
which must be settled, innumerable addresses were called 
for, conferences were held with the workers, often last- 
ing far into the night, and questions of future policy 
were considered if not decided upon. Some nights he 
secured less than three hours' sleep. We are not sur- 
prised to find among his notes of this trip the jotting, 
" Plenty of problems." 

It hardly needs to be said that one of the most per- 
plexing problems connected with Baptist w^ork in the 
United States grows out of the separation of our con- 
stituency into two distinct groups : Baptists of the South 
and Baptists of the North. This problem is greatly ac- 
centuated in the Western border States. Here the Home 
Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Amer- 
ican Baptist Home Mission Society have carried on work, 
to some extent, in the same territory. Settlers came 
from the North and from the South. Separate if not 
rival associations and conventions were organized. Fric- 
tion was inevitable. In Oklahoma and Indian Territory 
the situation became so acute that a conference was 
called to consider what could be done to secure unifi- 



92 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

cation of Baptist work. Such representative men from 
the South as Doctors Gambrell and Kerfoot were present, 
while Doctors Morehouse and Rairdon represented the 
Home Mission Society. They met at McAlester, Indian 
Territory, and later on at Oklahoma City. In both these 
conferences the question of " alien immersion " came 
to the front, accompanied by sectional feeling, personal 
animosities, and some divergence in theological views. 
Fortunately the representatives of the two Boards were 
men of large minds and desirous of peace. In his notes 
of this conference Doctor Morehouse writes of Doctor 
Gambrell : 

Eminently fair, open-minded, and candid. At a critical moment 
he came out decidedly for recognizing both bodies as equals in 
the formation of the new Convention. He presided well, fre- 
quently taking part in the discussion in an effective and often 
humorous way. 

After long discussion a working plan was agreea upon, 
which was affirmed by a subsequent meeting held in Du- 
rant, Indian Territory, the following September. Among 
the " Reflections on the Conference " recorded in the 
notes taken by Doctor Morehouse, we find " Triumph of 
grace over prejudice and alienation." " The shame and 
sorrow over division led up to the attempt for unifica- 
tion." " The spirit of prayer in the conference. Stopped 
discussion to pray." "Landmarkism got its coup de 
grace as an element of trouble in our Conventions." He 
rejoices over the happy settlement of vexing questions, 
but lived to see that Landmarkism was only stunned, and 
that questions which are settled seemingly, may become 
unsettled. 

After twenty years of service Doctor Morehouse was 
asked by the Board to take a vacation of four months, 



FIELD SECRETARY 93 

a part of which was spent in Hawaii. Few of the ex- 
periences of those weeks found permanent record, as 
far as the writer has been able to discover. May he be 
permitted to refer to a night in the fall of 1900, when 
Doctor Morehouse was a guest in his home, and held 
the family spellbound as he told of his visit to Hawaii? 
The people, the mountains, the leper colony, the fruits 
and flowers, the climate, the religious work being done, 
educational enterprises — in short, everything pertaining 
to the islands and their inhabitants had been catalogued 
in his mind. What he saw he could tell in such a way 
as to pass on his vision to others. As far as the writer 
has been able to discover, the only permanent record 
made of the impressions received during his trip to 
Hawaii was in an article contributed to the Bulletin and 
entitled " Sugar from Lava : A Lesson." 

On the night of the Fourth of July, 1899 (he writes), as if 
in sympathy with the first celebration of that day by Hawaiians, 
after annexation to the United States, the famous volcano of 
Mauna Loa, after years of inactivity, burst forth in a magnificent 
eruption. We determined to see it at close range. Going by 
steamer one hundred and seventy-five miles from Honolulu to 
Hilo we went thence by stage through tropical forests and 
cultivated country thirty miles to the Volcano House near the 
great crater of Kilauea, where three of us with three guides 
and seven horses proceeded on our tortuous and difficult journey 
of forty miles to the flaming summit of Mauna Loa, 10,300 feet 
above the sea. Late In the afternoon of the first day we camped 
in a grove of Koa trees, having passed through tangled forests 
and over dreary stretches of lava beds. Early the next day 
we came out Into the open, where for miles before us and as far 
as we could see on either side, was one vast expanse of old 
lava flows, treeless, verdureless, waterless, while a blazing torrid 
sun poured forth Its roasting rays from a cloudless sky. 
Cautiously and slowly our horses picked their way over the 
trackless, jagged masses until at noon, when they could safely 
go no farther, they were tethered; and then on foot, with large 



94 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

canteens of water and some provisions, we continued our upward 
journey. With parched Hps, blistered faces, shortened breath, 
and palpitating hearts, for five hours we clambered over roughest 
imaginable bodies of old lava, often in fantastic forms startlingly 
like petrified "gorgons, hydras, and chimeras dire," and at the 
last, for half an hour, went over the uncooled but crusted lava 
flow of a few days before, whose crevices glowed with the red 
and yellow mass beneath. 

Sublime beyond description was the spectacle as we neared 
the crater. There was the huge cone about one hundred and 
twenty-five feet high and three hundred feet in diameter, whose 
glare had beckoned us one hundred and fifty miles away. We 
were at its very base. As night came on we clambered up the 
side of an inactive crater about two hundred and fifty feet 
distant, where for hours we sat spellbound, listening to the 
sullen roaring intermingled with sharp explosions of the molten 
mass which surged and dashed against the interior of the crater, 
poured in fiery streams over its sides, shot up incessantly enor- 
mous jets of blazing red from two hundred to four hundred 
feet against the midnight sky, while from its orifice at one side 
with a velocity of forty feet a second rushed a river of fire 
down the mountainside, where, miles away, its divided streams 
seemed like ribbons of gold in a setting of gloom. In it was 
devastation and death. 

Who would suppose that out of this material sugar in unsur- 
passed quantities would ever be produced? Yet, such is the fact. 
Through the action of the elements during the ages the lava 
has crumbled, has been disintegrated, has been washed down 
the mountain slopes, creating fertile valleys and plains with their 
luxuriant tropical growths that make the Hawaiian Islands the 
" Paradise of the Pacific." And here, under sb'lful cultivation, 
the sugar-cane flourishes as almost nowhere else, yielding from 
seven to thirteen tons of sugar per acre, or from five to eight 
times as much as the yield of the cane-fields of Louisiana. Have 
we not here Samson's riddle again, " Out of the eater came forth 
meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness"? 

We sometimes view with alarm the great eruptions of unde- 
sirable elements from the populations of the old world to the 
new — some of it hissing hot with hate to all law and order, 
human and divine. Beneath the crust, in our great cities, is a 
heated mass of evil. And the eruption continues. Will it burn 



FIELD SECRETARY 95 

US out and leave us blighted and blasted? No. The process of 
cooling is going on; also the process of attrition, disintegration, 
and conversion into American soil for future harvests of good 
things. The descendants of these peoples are greatly unlike their 
ancestors. And in religious matters similar transformation is 
going on. Roman Catholic authorities tell us that within the 
last decade Rome has lost twenty-five thousand adherents among 
the French-Canadians alone, and that about seven millions of 
the descendants of Catholic parents have been lost to that church 
in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of these have 
become members of evangelical churches. In a spiritual sense 
we have here Mauna Loa over again: sugar from lava. But 
the sugar is not obtained except by tillage. 

Returning from Hawaii, the Field Secretary sailed 
from Victoria for Alaska. The steamer was crowded, 
and Doctor Morehouse writes : 

Imagine staterooms with three berths each, one above the 
other, and with standing room' besides for barely three persons ; 
and then imagine the agony and ingenuity of a man six feet 
five inches high and weighing two hundred and sixty-six pounds, 
twisting himself, as my traveling companion did, through the 
narrow space between the upper berth and the low ceiling of 
the cabin into his bed. It was a great feat. Think also of the 
misery of the man in the middle berth, who could scarcely roll 
over when the wire-woven mattress above him sagged low with 
a sleeper weighing more than two hundred pounds. 

One suspects that his unnamed traveling companion may 
have been the genial Dr. C. A. Wooddy. 

The purpose of this journey was to assist in the dedi- 
cation of the new Baptist church-house at Skagway. On 
the day of dedication Doctor Morehouse preached in 
the morning and Doctor Wooddy in the evening. This 
was the first church building erected in Skagway. To- 
ward its cost the Home Mission Society made a gift of 
$1,900. The church at that time numbered twenty-six 
members, in a population of five thousand. 



96 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

For some months following the Field Secretary's re- 
turn from Alaska much of his time was given to the 
Society's Southern work. Questions had arisen that 
seriously affected the continuance of cooperative work 
for and with the negro Baptists of Georgia, and in Jan- 
uary Doctor Morehouse attended a conference in Atlanta 
composed of representatives from the three negro Con- 
ventions of Georgia, the white Baptist Convention, the 
Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Conven- 
tion, and the Home Mission Society, which agreed upon 
a basis of union. Soon after Doctor Morehouse, in com- 
pany with Dr. Wallace Buttrick and Hon. H. K. Porter, 
spent three weeks in visiting schools for the colored 
people. In this tour Hampton, Virginia Union Univer- 
sity, Hartshorn College, Tuskegee Institute, Spelman 
Seminary, Atlanta Baptist College, Roger WiUiams Uni- 
versity, and State University, Kentucky, were visited. 
Judging by the contents of the little book in which are 
recorded the notes made during this trip. Doctor More- 
house was especially interested in what they saw at Tus- 
kegee. A conference was being held at the time of their 
visit, and the keen appreciation of the remarks made by 
participants in the discussion is in evidence on almost 
every page of the diary. He reports Booker Wash- 
ington as saying to the negroes : " Quit going on excur- 
sions. Stick to your work. Men say colored work is 
unreliable. Get homes and improve them." " Got a 
good minister down there ? " said one speaker. " Don't 
know, he ain't dead yet." One woman when asked if her 
husband did not treat her better now than he used to do, 
answered : " Please 'scuse me from answering dat ques- 
tion. I'se got to ride home with him to-night." A sage 
remark made by one speaker was to the effect that " If 
you have anything to say to a mule, better say it to his 



I 



FIELD SECRETARY 97 

face." Doctor Morehouse had the saving sense of humor. 
Without this he could never have accomplished such 
mighty tasks, never have won for himself such a multi- 
tude of friends. His office associates testify to his en- 
joyment in hearing a good story and his habit of bring- 
ing to them the best that he had heard. Temperamen- 
tally serious, burdened with great responsibilities, he 
found refreshment and rest in the humorous. 

During the year 1901, the Field Secretary had charge 
of the " Home Mission Bulletin," which gained a wide 
circulation and proved of material benefit to the Society. 
To fill its columns with that which would inform and 
inspire was no inconsiderable task, even if the editor 
had not been busied about a multitude of other things. 

The twentieth anniversary of Spelman Seminary was 
observed in November, 1901. The work here had been 
begun in the damp, dark basement of Friendship Church, 
whence God sent Miss Packard and Miss Giles to serve 
their colored sisters in the South. In the twenty years 
of its history it had come into possession of a beautiful 
campus crowning one of the most sightly places in the 
city of Atlanta, with eight commodious brick buildings. 
At this anniversary Doctor Morehouse presided, being 
president of the board of trustees. A report says that 
Doctor Morehouse, "by his happy introduction of the 
principal speakers, and his skill in calling out expressions 
in the various discussions and open parliaments, imparted 
vivacity and interest to the entire proceedings." 

At the Anniversaries of 1902, held in St. Paul, it was 
proposed that the Home and Foreign Societies make the 
experiment of employing a joint secretary in one district. 
To this Doctor Morehouse objected, as he did to the 
proposition to consolidate the missionary magazines. 
Both propositions were voted down, largely because of 



98 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

the Opposition of Doctor Morehouse. That he was big 
enough to revise his decisions is shown by the fact that, 
later on, he came to hearty approval of both these changes 
in denominational practice, and gave unstinted support 
to that which he had formerly opposed. 

In July following the Anniversaries, Gen. T. J. Mor- 
gan, Corresponding Secretary of the Home Mission So- 
ciety, closed his earthly labors to enter into our Father's 
house. On the day following General Morgan's death 
the Board asked Doctor Morehouse to act as Correspond- 
ing Secretary, and in October he was elected to that 
office. At the same time Dr. E. E. Chivers was made 
Field Secretary, bringing to that office a man of great 
graciousness of character, devotion to Christ's cause, and 
discriminating judgment. This choice, due, in a mea- 
sure, to the friendship existing between Doctor More- 
house and Doctor Chivers, gave to the Corresponding 
Secretary an associate in service whom he tenderly loved 
and with whom it was a delight to serve. 



VI 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD 

MORE than once Doctor Morehouse remarked that 
he had never sought an office. From the time 
when he went to East Saginaw as missionary pastor, his 
services were sought by schools, boards, and organiza- 
tions charged with important responsibilities. The judi- 
cial temperament, the trained intellectual ability, the ca- 
pacity for hard work, and the Christian spirit of Doctor 
Morehouse were speedily recognized by those who came 
to know him, and positions of honor were opened to him 
constantly. To every position he brought such marked 
ability and tireless devotion as to command universal 
admiration and confidence. For twenty-four years he 
had served the Home Mission Society, and it was inevi- 
table that the denomination should turn to him when the 
death of General Morgan necessitated that a Chief Exec- 
utive should be found. 

It was not at all clear to Doctor Morehouse, however, 
that he should assume the duties of that office. He knew 
as did no other man what was involved. He had been 
that way before, and had learned by experience how 
heavy the burdens were and how rough the road. He 
was now in his sixty-eighth year, and had come to a time 
when many men retire from active work. As far as 
honors were concerned he had been the recipient already 
of all that a grateful denomination could bestow. De- 
spite the entreaties of his friends he hesitated to accept 
the position, and It was only a conviction that his God 
called him to the task that finally led him to resume the 

99 



100 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

duties which he had felt obliged to lay down nines years 
before. 

In his letter of acceptance>he sets forth his estimate of 
the work to which he is called with such clearness as to 
demand a place in this record : 

To the Executive Board of the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society: 

Dear Brethren: The Recording Secretary of the Board has 
notified me of my election, at the meeting of the Board, October 
13, 1902, as Corresponding Secretary of the Society. I assure 
you of my high appreciation of the honor thus conferred upon 
me and of this renewed expression of confidence in me for 
the service required in that position. The Advisory Committee 
and others know how averse I have been to entertain the sug- 
gestion that I should resume the cares and responsibiUties of 
the ofiice, which, after about fourteen years, I voluntarily re- 
linquished ten years ago. I am in my twenty-fourth year of 
continuous service for the Society, and have looked forward to 
the termination of a quarter of a century of my labors as a 
fitting time to lay off some of the burdens, if not to retire alto- 
gether. No one knows better than I what is involved in the 
successful management of a Society like this. It is true that the 
management is officially vested in the Executive Board on 
which are men who bear the interests of this Society on their 
hearts, almost as they do their own personal interests; men 
worthy of all honor for their long, patient, faithful, conscientious 
attention to its affairs. Only one of all who were yoke-fellows 
with me twenty-four years ago, is a member of the Board now. 
The Corresponding Secretary of the Society, however, is ex- 
pected to be something more than a letter writer or the chief 
executive officer to carry out the decisions of the Board. He 
must be a watchman in the tower, scanning continually the vast 
and varied fields of the Society, with their ever-changing con- 
ditions; he must know something, if not everything, about all 
the affairs of the Society, must represent it on important public 
occasions, must look after its periodical and missionary litera- 
ture, must stimulate the beneficence of the churches; must take 
the initiative In a multitude of matters demanding the attention 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD lOI 

of the Society. The duties of this position tax a man's powers 
and resourcefulness to the utmost. This will appear by a glance 
at some of the special work done, in addition to ordinary duties, 
during the last twenty-four years. 

In view of all this, the resumption of such responsibilities as 
pertain to the administration of this Society, with old and new 
problems pressing upon us for solution, has been to me a very 
serious matter. I say to you now, candidly and honestly, that 
it would be a great relief to me if you could find another to 
take and successfully carry forward this work, allowing me 
to render some less exacting service for the Society. But, your 
action has imposed upon me the necessity of a decision. For a 
month I have tried to look at the matter from many points of 
view. I cannot lightly disregard your own judgment, prayerfully 
and deliberately taken. Neither can I disregard the many spon- 
taneous expressions of influential friends of the Society^ that I 
should again become its Corresponding Secretary. Nor can 
I disregard the feelings of one who for his eminent fitness 
you have elected Field Secretary, who has assured me that his 
acceptance would hinge upon mine. Nor, as to m^-self, am I 
unmindful of the fact, for which I am thankful to God, so far 
as I can judge, physically and mentally I am capable as ever, 
unless it be for very severe continuous strain upon my powers. 
I have no desire to live idly and rust out. I am willing to do 
whatever God may call me to do, trusting him for strength and 
wisdom and guidance. Slowly I have come to the conclusion, 
therefore, to inform you, as I now do, of my acceptance of 
your generous action in my election as Corresponding Secretary 
of the Society. 

I understand that this election is for the remainder of the 
year, or until the annual meeting in May, 1903, when the Society 
itself will have the determination of what shall be thereafter. 
Until then the best and the most I can do will be done cheer- 
fully for the promotion of the Society's interests and for the 
accomplishment of the great work given us to do. I am thankful 
for the colleague whom God has manifestly given us in the 
person of the Field Secretary, between whom and myself most 
cordial relations have existed for many years. The men are 
few who know so well and are so well known and esteemed 
by the denomination, as he. 

Brethren, sometimes reme.mber us in your prayers as we shall 



102 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

likewise remember you, not simply that the affairs of the Society 
may be well and wisely managed, but that here, at its head- 
quarters, at the source of its activities, there may exist that 
spiritual life and atmosphere which shall characterize those to 
whom are entrusted these important concerns, in the extension 
and the establishment of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

Again thanking you for the generous confidence shown me 
in your recent action, I remain, 

Cordially, your servant in Christ, 

H. L. Morehouse. 
Monday, November lo, 1902. 

The more one studies the life of Doctor Morehouse the 
greater becomes the amazement at that which he accom- 
plished. He was a master of detail ; he was a great ex- 
ecutive; he could and did initiate important movements; 
he wrote worthy verse and contributed to periodicals ; he 
wrote sermons long after he had left the pastorate, out 
of pure love of sermonic work ; he was a compelling plat- 
form speaker. How he found the time for these many 
and varied tasks is a mystery ; a mystery accentuated by 
the uniform excellence of his work. He was impatient 
of slipshod work, and could not gain his own consent to 
let " sound and fury " displace patient investigation and 
careful thinking. 

Two addresses which he delivered in the fall of 1902 
are fine illustrations of the care with which he prepared 
for such occasions. In September the Swedish Baptist 
Conference celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the be- 
ginning of their work in America. At this Golden Ju- 
bilee, held in Chicago, Doctor Morehouse represented the 
Home Mission Society. His address included a historical 
survey, dealing with the main factors in this remarkable 
religious development. He showed himself familiar with 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD IO3 

Scandinavian Lutheranism, and set forth the essential 
difference between it and the Baptist faith. He gave 
the time when Baptist work among the Swedes began 
in the different States, and presented the statistics relat- 
ing to the part which the Home Mission Society had 
played in this important work. For most men the task 
of preparing such a comprehensive paper would have re- 
quired weeks if not months. 

Just a little later we find him speaking at the Centen- 
nial of the Massachusetts Baptist State Convention on 
the " Indebtedness of Our Home Mission and Educa- 
tional Work to the Baptists of Massachusetts." In this 
address he went back to the beginnings of Baptist mis- 
sionary work in America, and credited Massachusetts 
with initiating the movement which eventuated in the 
formation of the Home Mission Society. The contribu- 
tions of this State in money and in devoted manhood 
and womanhood were set forth with irresistible force. 
He showed the part which Massachusetts Baptists have 
played in work for the negro and in education, and paid a 
glowing tribute to their faithfulness and sacrificial 
service. 

As a pastor, Doctor Morehouse had been thoughtfully 
evangelistic. With all his heart he believed that the 
supreme task of the church is to win men and women 
and children to Jesus Christ. With him all undertakings 
were means for the accomplishment of this ultimate end. 
Because he thought straight he was not deceived by noise 
and ferment. Converted under the preaching of one who 
appealed to the will as few evangelists have done, he ap- 
proved and used methods of evangelism which were cal- 
culated to produce something more than a transitory 
emotion. When, early in 1903, special interest in evan- 
gelism was manifested by the Baptists of the North, Doc- 



104 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

tor Morehouse was foremost among those who empha- 
sized the importance of organized effort for the conver- 
sion of the unsaved. In his annual report presented at 
Buffalo in May, he set forth the things which should be 
considered in planning for organized evangelism: 

Where is the greatest need for organized effort: how many- 
good and capable men are available for such service: by whom 
they shall be selected and appointed : in what way means shall be 
provided for their maintenance : whether their work shall be 
self-determined or done in relation with and under the general 
direction of the organized agencies of State Conventions and the 
Home Mission Society : and to whom they shall make report. 

As usual he goes to the heart of the matter. In July 
following, a department of Evangelism was added to the 
" Home Mission Monthly." 

During the summer tv/o conferences were held be- 
tween officials of the Home Mission Society and repre- 
sentatives of the State Conventions, one in New York 
and one in Chicago. At these meetings, after full dis- 
cussion of all the phases of this important matter, it was 
unanimously agreed that the Home Mission Society 
should lead in evangelistic work. In September the Ex- 
ecutive Committee adopted a comprehensive plan of evan- 
gelism, extending over a series of years. This plan, 
prepared by Doctor Morehouse, provided for the closest 
possible cooperation between the Home Mission Society 
and State Conventions and City Mission Societies, for 
the appointment of a general evangelist and a man to 
work among students, and also for the appointment of an 
evangelist among our immigrant population. 

In the decade from 1900 to 19 10, great changes were 
brought about in the organized activities of Northern 
Baptists. At the Detroit Anniversaries in 1900 a com- 
mittee was appointed to consider the closer coordination 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD I05 

of our general Societies. The report of this committee, 
submitted at Springfield in 1901, was a compromise 
which seemed to satisfy no one. Those who desired to 
bring about a larger measure of unification were disap- 
pointed, and the brethren who feared centralization cried 
that we were " heading straight for Rome." At the Anni- 
versaries held in St. Paul the following year, the matter 
came up again and another committee was appointed. 
This Cominittee of Fifteen in its report at Buffalo, May, 
1903, after emphasizing the importance of cooperation, 
declared that 

Unwillingness so to cooperate should be regarded by the 
denomination as a disqualification for leadership or official posi- 
tion. We can afford to lose any single worker rather than to 
lose the united effort which the denomination justly demands. 

Endorsing this position in the " Home Mission 
Monthly," and speaking for the officials of the Society, 
Doctor Morehouse says : 

It is asserted without fear of contradiction that these men have 
been and are most ready in every proper way, to cooperate with 
other missionary organizations as attested by the fact that the 
Society has varied plans of cooperation with more than forty 
other bodies, north, south, east, and west, Including State Con- 
ventions, City Mission Societies, the Southern Baptist Conven- 
tion and one Woman's Society; and that the present Chief 
Executive officer of the Society, in many of these plans, has 
taken the initiative, and has done more to promote cooperation 
on a broad, fraternal basis than any other man in the de- 
nomination, living or dead. 

If this statement is criticized as lacking in modesty, he 
replies in the words of Paul to the censorious Corin- 
thians, " I am become foolish ; ye did tempt me." Those 
most familiar with our denominational life for the past 



I06 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

forty years will bear witness that this claim is amply 
justified by facts. 

While the great Secretary was a leader in efforts to 
bring about cooperative effort among religious agencies, 
he had his own ideas as to the scope of such cooperation 
and the form which it should take. Lacking these per- 
sonal convictions he could not have been the man he was. 
It was also inevitable that his convictions should some- 
times clash with the convictions of others. 

In the denominational evolution resulting in the North- 
ern Baptist Convention, Doctor Morehouse had a large 
part. His dissatisfaction with the old form of " May 
Meetings " was expressed through the columns of " The 
Examiner " as early as 1872, when he was pastor of East 
Saginaw. He writes: 

The unwieldiness, and unmanageableness, and practical worth- 
lessness of our annual meetings are generally recognized. But 
how can we help it? What is the remedy? This is our 
answer : State representation on the basis of Baptist membership. 

He proposes that the basis of representation be, at first, 
one delegate for every thousand members. These are 
to be chosen by the State Conventions. He urged that 

Our Anniversaries are not " mass-meetings " to fire the hearts 
of the people . . . when strange and unholy fire may also be 
kindled, as we too well know . . . but meetings to do the Lord's 
business with earnest and thoughtful spirits. To this or some- 
thing like it, we must come. It is only a question of time. 
The sooner the better. 

Although Doctor Morehouse was a member of the 
committee which drafted the original Constitution and 
By-laws of the Northern Baptist Convention, and al- 
ways kept step with his brethren as they marched toward 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD 10/ 

greater unification of our denominational work, he did 
not always approve of everything that was done. Prob- 
ably the work of consolidation went farther than he 
thought wise. He was jealous of the integrity and au- 
tonomy of the Society to whose interests he had devoted 
so many years and so much toil. Nevertheless, he was 
no groucher. When the majority had decided he loyally 
supported the decision. Those who heard him at the 
Convention in Minneapolis as he arose in the gallery in 
response to the repeated calls for " Morehouse " and re- 
call his tenderly fraternal words, do not need to be as- 
sured of the large place which the Northern Baptist Con- 
vention held in his heart. On this, as on many another 
occasion, the assembly gave indubitable evidence of the 
honor and affection in which he was held. 

With the coming to the Society of Rev. Howard B. 
Grose, D. D., as Editorial Secretary, a great burden was 
lifted from the shoulders of the Corresponding Secretary. 
As the Chief Executive of the Society, Doctor Morehouse 
had many and difficult problems to solve, and should not 
have been compelled to attend to the numerous details in- 
volved in bringing out the " Monthly," and in preparing 
literature for churches, Sunday Schools, and Young 
People's Societies. Doctor Grose took over all this work, 
bringing to his task not only an exceptional editorial 
instinct but long experience. 

Early in 1904 Doctor Morehouse made his first visit 
to Cuba and Porto Rico. He had taken up the study of 
Spanish as a recreation, and had gained a fair command 
of the language. This knowledge served him well as he 
visited the different stations which had been opened by 
the Home Mission Society. 

The short sea-voyage was somewhat tempestuous, and 
he writes to the " Monthly " : 



I08 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

For three days the sea was very rough ; the pronounced motion 
of the boat giving new meaning to a favorite song of the negroes : 

" I'm a rolling, I'm a rolling, 
I'm a rolling through an unfriendly world." 

A sea voyage of this character is a strain upon good nature, 
good manners, and good morals, and upon human nature in 
general; but doubtless has its discipHnary value to those who 
are duly exercised thereby. 

During the fifty-three days spent in the Islands, he 
visited over forty mission fields, made as many addresses, 
participated in the dedication of four churches, and in 
the corner-stone laying of the fifth, and negotiated for 
the purchase of property at eight stations. That he was 
far from being exhausted by his labors is evident from 
the fact that during the first week following his return 
he visited seven schools and attended four meetings of 
boards of trustees. 

Although especially interested in Baptist work in the 
Islands, he absorbed information on every conceivable 
subject. The soil, climate, crops, homes, hours of labor, 
education, racial peculiarities — in short, anything and 
everything that had to do with humanity seems to have 
been automatically registered in his mind. A religious 
phenomenon that aroused his keen interest was " Spirit- 
ism," or, as its adherents called it, " Religio-Ideal." Of 
this creed he says: 

It is Spiritualism and more. It has its mediums, table-tippings, 
knockings, etc., and has arrayed itself to a considerable extent 
in a Christian garb. There are immense organizations for the 
propagation of the faith. They teach the repeated reincarna- 
tions of human spirits, until at length perfection shall be 
attained. It is avowedly antagonistic to Romanism. It is esti- 
mated that a third of the population are adherents of this system. 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD IO9 

Moved by the needs of the people of these Islands and 
the great opportunity for helpful service, he appealed for 
money to enable the Society to erect church buildings. 
His challenge to the denomination was not in vain, and 
the response was comparatively generous even if it did 
not fully meet his desires. 

This year saw the completion of a. quarter of a cen- 
tury of service rendered by Doctor Morehouse in the* in- 
terests of the Home Mission Society. At the Anniver- 
saries held in Cleveland, the appreciation and love of the 
denomination found expression, so far as it is possible 
to put feelings into words. (Cf. Chapt. XI.) In this 
same year he reached his seventieth birthday, and cele- 
brated the anniversary by writing " My Song at Seventy." 
This cheery, grateful, and deeply devout poem was re- 
ceived with delight by the thousands of men and women 
who had come to know and to love this tireless servant 
of Jesus Christ. (Cf. Chapt. VIII.) Before the year 
closed he had gotten together a group of representative 
Baptists from the South, the North, and Canada, that 
conference might be had regarding the advisability of 
organizing American Baptists into a General Convention. 
(Cf. Chapt. VII.) 

At least one important movement among Baptists did 
not originate with Doctor Morehouse. Who was the 
first to suggest a Baptist World Alliance? The honor 
belongs to the South, and the specific location must be 
left to the South to settle. The project was heartily ap- 
proved by Baptist bodies in different countries, and in 
July, 1905, the first Baptist World Congress was held in 
Exeter Hall, London. Among the delegates from the 
North present at this meeting the Home Mission Secre- 
tary was a conspicuous figure. A prominent place on the 
program was given to his address on American Baptist 



no HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Home Missions, and he was a member of the committee 
which drafted the constitution and by-laws. Following 
the Congress he attended the annual meeting of the 
Welsh Baptist Union in the little mining town of Aber- 
cairn. Many of those present had met and heard him 
during the sessions of the Congress, and he received a 
hearty welcome. The evening services were held in the 
Baptist meeting-house, but each day the people gathered 
in the open air. A covered platform had been erected 
for the speakers at the foot of a grassy hillside, and here 
five thousand people listened to a sermon in Welsh and 
another in English each forenoon and afternoon. Here, 
where Spurgeon had preached to twenty-five thousand 
people twenty years before, Doctor Morehouse delivered 
a sermon of compelling interest. At the conclusion of 
the service one afternoon, Doctor Morehouse and the 
writer followed a footpath up the hill and, reaching the 
summit, rested on the grass under the shade of noble 
trees. From this vantage-ground they looked down upon 
the valley at their feet, and afar to other ranges of hills 
standing out against the sky-line. In the quiet and 
beauty of that hour they talked as friend to friend ; now 
of the recent London Congress or of the Welsh revival, 
and again of days long gone, when one was a pastor in 
Rochester and the other a youngster trying to secure 
his seminary training. Ever and again a period of silence 
would give evidence that this friendship w^as based upon 
a mutual understanding so perfect that it did not depend 
upon ceaseless chatter for its sustenance. 

One could not visit Wales at that time without becom- 
ing deeply interested in the causes and results of the 
great revival which had swept through the country a 
short time before. Studying the preparatory stages of 
this remarkable movement. Doctor Morehouse concluded 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD III 

that three things had contributed largely to the awaken- 
ing: I. The character of the preaching had undergone a 
change. Whereas it had formerly been scholastic to a 
marked degree, it became more practical and pointed. 
2. A system of written examinations had been introduced 
in the Sunday Schools, which resulted in deepened in- 
terest in Bible-study. 3. Groups of churches held musi- 
cal festivals, and sacred music played a large part in the 
religious quickening. 

After the meetings at Abercairn had closed, Doctor 
Morehouse and the writer made their way to Salisbury, 
and from there to ancient Stonehenge. In spite of his 
devotion to hard work — possibly because of it — no man 
enjoyed a holiday more keenly than Doctor Morehouse. 
On this trip he was aglow with interest in country and 
people, and bubbling over with fun. The writer has in 
his possession a kodak of the dignified Secretary snapped 
in front of the White Hart Inn at Salisbury the morning 
after our arrival. A milk-vender with his donkey and 
little cart had stopped on his morning rounds. Doctor 
Morehouse and the donkey, facing each other, the for- 
mer wearing a broad grin and the latter with ears set 
forward and a look of unfathomable wisdom, form a 
picture which is a delight. That day can never be for- 
gotten. We drove past ancient Sarum, with its ruins 
and innumerable rabbits, across the wide-stretching Salis- 
bury plain, to stand in wonder before the indestructible 
reminders of a vanished people. Who lifted these mas- 
sive stones into the air, and for what purpose ? Did they 
offer human sacrifices upon the great stone which lies in 
front of the opening of the circle? Are these giant 
stones from some English quarry? or were they brought 
from France? Is this a persistent remainder of Druidical 
worship? or all that is left of a megalithic burial-place? 



112 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

So the mellow, summer day passed, and with the even- 
ing we went our separate ways. 

Returning to London, Doctor Morehouse " browsed 
around " in this interesting city for a few days, during 
which time he noted the contrast between the English 
and the American ways of doing things. In his note- 
book he jotted down, " Vehicles go to the left." " At 
junction of several streets or at small squares a central 
raised stone or cement section, with tall raised lamp and 
posts in center, and often a policeman." " Railway trains 
started by ringing a hand-bell; in small stations by a 
mouth whistle." " Booking-room, not ticket office." He 
learns that Spurgeon's sermons are still selling at the 
rate of twenty thousand copies per week, and that out of 
every forty persons in London, one is a pauper. 

Passing over to Rotterdam he made a leisurely journey 
through Holland, visiting Amsterdam, the Hague, 
Scheveningen, Dordrecht, Delft, and the island of Mar- 
ken. He notes that at his hotel in Rotterdam, Dowie's 
paper, " Leaves of Healing," is on file. The constant 
references to paintings and statuary indicate his interest 
in art. While he never became a connoisseur he was an 
intelligent and appreciative student of artistic work, both 
at home and abroad. 

Returning to England he sauntered through the En- 
glish Lake region, with which he was charmed, then 
visited Ireland* He watched the crowds in Dublin, at- 
tended church in Belfast, where he heard an American 
preacher, and spent a day in a trip to the Giant's 
Causeway. 

In the launching of the Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ Doctor Morehouse had a large part. 
An ** Interchurch Conference " held in New York City 
in November, 1905, resulted in a permanent organiza- 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD II3 

tion. Doctor Morehouse was a member of the General 
Committee of Forty, and of the Committee of Five which 
drafted the plan of organization. He was a sturdy con- 
tender for the evangeHcal basis of membership, and de- 
clared that Unitarians should not be offended because 
they were not included. 

If the object of the Council were merely philanthropic and 
sociological the case would be different. It is much more than 
that; it is to exalt Christ by bringing men to the acceptance of 
him both as Redeemer and Lord. The redemptive features 
of Christ's work — the supreme thing of all — are not in the 
Unitarian creed, if indeed thej"^ have any creed on which they 
agree. They " make void the cross of Christ " as having any 
special efficacy in human redemption. The question is not 
whether some excellent and very conspicuous Unitarian is not 
worthy of recognition: the deeper and the vital question is: 
What is the general attitude of that body toward Christ as the 
Son of God and the Saviour of men? 

At the never-to-be-forgotten meeting of Northern Bap- 
tists in Washington, May, 1907, Doctor Morehouse re- 
viewed the work of the Home Mission Society for 
seventy-five years in an address of remarkable power. 
This address excited enthusiastic commendation from 
those present, and called out many letters of appreciation 
from prominent men in the denomination to whom it 
came in printed form. The part which Doctor More- 
house played at this time in the preliminary organization 
of the Northern Baptist Convention has already been 
noted. Following the meetings in Washington, the Gen- 
eral Convention of Baptists of North America met at 
Fortress Monroe, where Doctor Morehouse had an im- 
portant part on the program. 

The San Francisco earthquake, with the accompanying 
destruction of property, church and individual, brought 

H 



114 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

to the Secretary added burdens. His interest in Baptist 
work on the Pacific coast had always been deep and 
constant. Now he saw the work of years imperiled, and 
at once gave himself to the task of raising funds for 
the purpose of aiding the stricken churches. He organ- 
ized a campaign for money and pushed it with character- 
istic vigor. All that his services meant to our suffering 
people in San Francisco and vicinity will never be made 
known in adequate fulness until that day when the " books 
are opened." 

Among the many evidences that Doctor Morehouse 
was heartily in sympathy with all helpful cooperative 
effort, is his activity in bringing about the formation of 
the Home Missions Council. In fact it is not too much 
to say that this organization owes its existence to him. 
He was a Baptist, but first of all he was a Christian. He 
saw the folly of independent if not antagonistic action on 
the part of Christian bodies all of whom were engaged 
in the same work on the same field. To promote econ- 
omy and to conserve the interests of the kingdom of God 
he undertook to bring Into cooperative effort the Chris- 
tian bodies carrying on home mission work. His efforts 
resulted In an organization that has amply justified the 
hopes of those who created it. 

As the year of 1907 drew to Its close, that good man 
and true friend. Dr. E. E. Chivers, who for five years 
had been associated with Doctor Morehouse as Field 
Secretary, answered the call to our Father's house. Doc- 
tor Chivers died on December second. The news of his 
home-going brought sorrow to a multitude of hearts all 
over the land. He was only fifty-nine years of age, but 
he had burned himself out with unselfish toil. No purer, 
more unselfish or more Christlike man has been used of 
God in the building of his kingdom on this continent 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD II 5 

than Doctor Chivers. By Doctor Morehouse this loss 
was felt with peculiar keenness. They were close 
friends, and that means much. Doctor Chivers, by his 
administrative ability and tireless zeal, had eased the 
shoulders of Doctor Morehouse of many burdens. At 
the funeral services Doctor Morehouse declared, " For 
singleness of purpose and devotion to duty, I never knew 
a man his superior." 

Reaching seventy-four years of age, with his trusted 
colaborer gone, with the office force depleted by sickness 
and a large debt threatening, the Executive Secretary 
turned to his great task as resolute and, seemingly, as 
undaunted as when, in his prime, he began the adminis- 
tration of his important duties. Doubtless this man had 
hours of gloom and heart-sickness and discouragement; 
but, so far as the world could see, new difficulties formed 
a new" challenge to which his strong will and splendid re- 
sources never failed to respond. In the early days of 
the following year the Society found a successor tcv 
Doctor Chivers in the person of Dr. Lemuel Call Barnes, 
also a warm personal friend of Doctor Morehouse. In 
Doctor Barnes the Executive Secretary had a congenial 
and highly efficient associate, whose abundant labors are 
known to us all. In view of the expanding work of the 
Society and the heavy burdens resting upon the Chief 
Executive, the Board very wisely decided to create the 
office of Associate Corresponding Secretary to which they 
called Dr. Charles Lincoln White, at that time president 
of Colby College. Doctor White's acceptance brought to 
the Society the services of a thoroughly trained and ex- 
perienced worker, whose heart was keenly sympathetic 
with all the varied undertakings of that organization 
through which Northern Baptists undertake to " win 
America for Christ." 



Il6 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Those present at Oklahoma City in 1908 where the 
Northern Baptist Convention was finally launched will 
never forget the scene when the two great Secretaries, 
Dr. Henry C. Mabie and Dr. Henry L. Morehouse vied 
with each other in expressions of mutual confidence and 
affection. Doctor Mabie's insistence that any effort to 
pay the debt of the Foreign Society must include the 
other Societies as well, prompted Doctor Morehouse to 
emphasize the constant friendliness with which the So- 
cieties had carried on their work. He referred to the 
team-work done by Doctor Mabie and himself some years 
before in raising a half million of dollars to free the 
Societies from debt, and testified, with much feeling, to 
the brotherly love which bound them together. At this 
point Doctor Mabie sprang to his feet, rushed across the 
platform, and threw his arms around Doctor More- 
house, while the great audience went wild with applause. 

As at no other meeting which the Home Mission So- 
ciety has ever held, Indians were present in large numbers 
at the Oklahoma City Anniversary. The session devoted 
to addresses by these native Americans was of thrilling 
interest, and not a few of the speakers referred to the 
Executive Secretary in terms of tender affection. Lone 
Wolf said, " My people were sick and Doctor More- 
house brought the medicine that made them well." In 
the final shaping of the organization to be known as the 
Northern Baptist Convention Doctor Morehouse per- 
formed important service, yielding gracefully to his 
brethren upon some questions of policy even where his 
judgment did not entirely approve. 

Rochester, his alma mater, which had conferred upon 
him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity as he 
was about to leave the pastorate for his duties as Secre- 
tary, recognizing the statesmanlike qualities of her gifted 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD II7 

son, gave him the degree of Doctor of Laws in this sum- 
mer of 1908. 

The Home Missions Council entered upon a campaign 
of interdenominational publicity early in 1909. As Doc- 
tor Morehouse had been the leading spirit in the organi- 
zation of the Council, so, now, he bore a conspicuous 
part in the forms of activity which had been agreed upon. 
It was decided to make a careful survey of church condi- 
tions in the different States, an enormous task, and one 
which did not meet with a success commensurate with 
its importance. Much was accomplished, however, es- 
pecially in bringing the representatives of different de- 
nominations together, and in promoting real fraternity. 
The series of public meetings, beginning with Brooklyn 
and including Hartford, Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, 
Baltimore, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, drew good audi- 
ences and served to deepen interest in home mission 
work. Doctor Morehouse delivered the opening address 
at not a few of these gatherings, discussing " The Out- 
standing Problems in Home Missions." With such a 
theme presented by such a man, the result could not be 
uncertain. 

This series of services formed a fine preparation for 
the Budget Campaign which was projected by and for 
the Northern Baptist Convention. The combined budget 
and the combined appeal had all the charm of novelty, and 
not a little enthusiasm was manifested by the constitu- 
ency of the Convention. With the preparation for this 
campaign and with carrying it forward Doctor M,ore- 
house had much to do. 

The last years of service which Doctor Morehouse 
rendered saw constantly increasing withdrawal from pub- 
lic duties while his physical powers seemed unimpaired. 
He was more and more disinclined to participate in move- 



Il8 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

ments which might develop a strong divergence of views. 
Whether this shrinking from controversy was due to his 
recognition of waning strength or to growing distaste 
for trials of strength it is impossible to say. Retirement, 
in some measure, from public duties did not lead him 
to any decrease of devotion to his tasks. Until about one 
year before his death he was the first of the office force 
on hand in the morning, and usually the last to leave at 
night. As one of his colaborers has said, " His capacity 
for work was no more remarkable than his devotion to 
it." 

In spite of the' increasing dislike for controversy, the 
Home Mission Secretary found himself necessarily in- 
volved in the unhappy contention which arose over New 
Mexico and Oklahoma. Volumes could be written about 
this conflict, and in justification of the position taken by 
the Corresponding Secretary of the Home Mission So- 
ciety. It was a matter concerning which Doctor More- 
house felt strongly and expressed himself with vigor and 
force. After years of occupancy by the Home Mission 
Society and the investment of many thousands of dollars, 
these fields passed under the control of the Board of 
Home Missions of the Southern Baptist Convention. To 
Doctor Morehouse, as to many others, the activity of the 
Home Board in bringing about this change in alignment 
seemed like treating the solemn agreements entered into 
at Fortress Monroe and at Washington as " scraps of 
paper." Because it is a closed chapter in the history of 
American Baptists, and because the writer sees nothing 
to be gained by further discussion, the details of this 
struggle are passed by in this record of Doctor More- 
house's life. 

If Doctor Morehouse's soul was tried by some of the 
experiences of his last years of service, he was not left 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD II9 

in doubt as to the place that he held in the hearts of 
Northern Baptists. When the Northern Baptist Con- 
vention met in Portland, Ore., in May, 1909, he was 
completing thirty years of service for the Home Mission 
Society. The Convention was on tiptoe to do him honor. 
Resolutions were passed and expressions of appreciation 
abounded. (Cf. Chapt. XI.) Although nearing his 
seventy-fifth birthday, he was still hale and vigorous, 
still thoroughly alive and in touch with the life of his 
time. The habit of publicly recognizing his services each 
five years had become fixed, and in 1914, in Boston, 
Northern Baptists, in Convention assembled, were per- 
mitted to make their final, formal expression of love to 
their most representative living leader. (Cf. Chapt. XL) 
At this Convention his appearance on the platform to 
present the Society's report was greeted with hearty and 
long-continued applause, and in the election of officers 
the rules were suspended, and Doctor Morehouse " in 
recognition of long and distinguished services was unani- 
mously elected Corresponding Secretary by a rising vote." 

It was during his last term of service as Corresponding 
Secretary that he formulated and put into operation a 
plan for aiding aged and infirm Baptist ministers and 
missionaries ; a plan which had been taking shape in his 
mind through many years. (Cf. Chapt. VII.) 

In 1912 he was selected to deliver the annual sermon 
before the Northern Baptist Convention. The letter 
from the Corresponding Secretary of the Convention, 
Dr. W. C. Bitting, informing Doctor Morehouse of the 
action of the Executive Committee in choosing him for 
this service, expresses the esteem in which the aged exec- 
utive was held by the entire denomination : 

It gives me unusual pleasure to inform you, on behalf of the 
Executive Committee of the Northern Baptist Convention, that 



120 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

you have been chosen to preach the Convention sermon on 
Sunday, May 26, during the meeting of the Northern Baptist 
Convention, at Des Moines, Iowa, May 22-29, 191-2. 

Also, let me say that the selection has been most heartily 
approved by the Secretaries of the American Baptist Foreign 
Mission Society, the American Baptist Publication Society, and 
the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society. 

This choice not only expresses the high personal regard in 
which you are held by the members of our Executive Committee, 
and the sense of your qualification for the high service to which 
they have called you, but also indicates in a slight degree their 
appreciation of the many years of consecrated service which 
you have rendered to our denominational interests. 

We are sure that your profound acquaintance with our denom- 
inational affairs in the past, your whole-hearted interest in the 
present conditions of our denominational life, and your sympathy 
with the developments which are taking place will enable you 
to give a message of great and lasting value. 

The sermon on the theme " The Making and Mission 
of a Denomination" amply justified the high anticipa- 
tions expressed in Doctor Sitting's letter. (Cf. Chapt. 
VIII.) The veteran Secretary was far from strong, and 
on the day preceding the time set for the sermon the 
writer found him in his room at the hotel with heart- 
action so feeble that it was feared he might be unable to 
meet the appointment. He then arranged that a friend 
should " spell " him, if necessary, in the delivery of the 
sermon, laughingly saying that he would furnish the 
brains if the friend would provide the wind. The sermon 
was read, and after proceeding for perhaps fifteen min- 
utes the preacher sat down to rest while his friend took 
ip the reading. In this way, the preacher and his proxy 
alternating, the sermon was presented. 

As the closing days of his long term of service are 
discussed in another part of this volume, it is only neces- 
sary to say here that he maintained unflagging devotion 



CORRESPONDING SECRETARY — SECOND PERIOD 121 

to his work to the last day of his life. Failing physical 
powers neither destroyed nor dimmed that fine enthusi- 
asm which had urged him on from his early manhood. 
For thirty-eight years he brought to one of our great 
benevolent Societies, and to all the interests of God's 
earthly kingdom, such ability, singleness of purpose, and 
sacrificial service as won for him the name of " states- 
man " and made for him a large and warm place in the 
hearts of those who love God. 



VII 

BY-PRODUCTS 

THE head of a great corporation says that their prof- 
its are derived more largely from by-products than 
from the specific business for which the company was 
organized. To attempt the task of selecting the most 
valuable service performed by Doctor Morehouse, would 
be a hazardous undertaking; but it is safe to say that 
some of his most important and far-reaching activities 
were not called out by his official duties. He will be 
remembered not only as the Great Secretary, but also 
for the invaluable contributions which he made to the 
advancement of the kingdom of God in fields lying con- 
tiguous to but outside of the one which commanded his 
special attention. He was larger than any single interest. 
Because he was deeply interested in making this world 
over after the thought of God, he was constantly alert 
to detect what needed to be done in order to increase 
Christian efficiency, not only in home missions, but in 
the whole domain of religious endeavor. 

In addition to the educational problems involved in 
the work of the Home Mission Society, the Secretary 
was brought face to face with conditions, especially in 
the West, which compelled serious consideration of the 
whole question of the relation of Baptists to Christian 
education. The result of his study and reflection was the 
formation of the American Baptist Education Society. 
We can do no better than to listen to his own account of 
the path that he traveled in reaching conviction and ac- 
tion in this matter : 

122 



H 



BY-PRODUCTS 1 23 

I suppose my general interest in educational matters was at 
the bottom of it all. When I was pastor in Michigan 1 was on 
the Board of Trustees of Kalamazoo College and of the Bap- 
tist Theological Seminary at Chicago. I raised money for 
Kalamazoo, and was the first one to speak out in the State 
Convention at Detroit in advocating the discontinuance of the 
theological school at Kalamazoo and a union of effort at Chicago. 
This excited great opposition at first, but in a few years it was 
accomplished. Soon after my removal to Rochester I was 
chosen a member of the Board of Trustees of Rochester Theo- 
logical Seminary, and for two years, in connection with my pas- 
torate, was Corresponding Secretary of the N. Y. Baptist Union 
for Ministerial Education. When I became Secretary of the 
Home Mission Society in 1879, the educational work of the 
Society was of special interest to me. In our Western mis- 
sion fields friends of educational enterprises looked to me as 
a representative of the Society for help. I instructed our 
general missionaries to do what they could without seriously 
interfering with their missionary work to foster hopeful edu- 
cational enterprises. I had much to do with helping to secure 
money for Sioux Falls institution. Others likewise appealed 
to me. When I went to the Pacific coast in 1886, via the 
U. P. R. R., I met the trustees of a school in North Dakota 
called Tower University; also I met the trustees of Colfax Col- 
lege, Washington ; also conferred with brethren about interests at 
McMinnville, Oregon; Centralia, Washington; and Oakland Col- 
lege, California; and when at Salt Lake City inquired par- 
ticularly into the work of the New West Educational Commis- 
sion. It was painfully evident that there was no guiding, 
helping hand in our educational work throughout the West ; that 
many things were being unwisely done, and opportunities were 
slipping from us for lack of proper organization to seize upon 
them. From 1884 to 1887 I had felt the need of such an organ- 
ization so strongly that I had frequently declared that if I 
were not Secretary of the Home Mission Societ}^ I would not 
rest until an Education Society was organized. Finally, in pre- 
paring the report of the Executive Board of the Home Mission 
Society, I introduced a section relating to denominational schools 
in the West and asked, Is there not need of an organization 
whose attention shall be given particularly to these affairs— an 
organization to advise what shall be done, and which shall render 



124 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

needful assistance in doing it? . . The report was adopted 
Monday, May i6, 1887. Two or three days after this I said 
to myself, After all, what will this item in the report amount 
to unless it is followed up by some sort of action? . . The irre- 
sistible conviction and impulse flashed upon me that I must do 
it— that I must follow up the suggestion in the report by some 
practicable measures looking toward an orgarization. . . Accord- 
ingly on Tuesday forenoon. May 31, I introduced the resolutions. 

These resolutions, calling upon the President of the 
Home Mission Society, Mr. Samuel Colgate, to appoint 
a committee of seven to take into consideration the ques- 
tion of a general educational organization for American 
Baptists, were heartily approved and adopted. The com- 
mittee named for this important task consisted of Doctors 
Jesse B. Thomas, Justin A. Smith, Franklin Johnson, 
and T. T. Eaton, and Messrs. Joshua Levering and J. B. 
Thresher. These gentlemen met in New York City on 
the twenty-fourth of February, 1888, and unanimously 
decided to call a convention to consider and take action 
concerning the organization of a general education so- 
ciety, to be known as " The American Baptist Education 
Society " ; the convention to be held in the city of Wash- 
ington on May sixteenth in connection with the Anni- 
versaries. The constituencies of the general Societies, 
North and South, so far as they might be present at 
Washington at that time, were to compose the meeting. 

Although the Secretary of the Home Mission Society 
was especially busy at this time with preparations for the 
approaching annual meeting of the Society, he found time 
to prepare articles for the denominational papers and to 
write personal letters in behalf of the cause which he had 
espoused with such whole-heartedness. That he had fa- 
miliarized himself with former movements of this kind 
appears from a letter written by him on March 20, 1888, 
to Dr. H. L. Wayland, editor of " The National Baptist " : 



BY-PRODUCTS 1 25 

I send you herewith a circular containing call for the Educa- 
tional Convention in Washington, May 16, and a letter concern- 
ing the publication thereof. I wish to add a word in regard to 
this movement. I regard it as of the very highest importance to 
our educational interests that something of the sort be done 
without delay. I have made careful study of the history and 
work of the old Educational Commission which practically ter- 
minated its existence in Philadelphia in 1862. I find that the 
great drift of opinion was in favor of a permanent organ- 
ization at that time. Our wisest and best men advocated it. 
Out of deference to a few tinuid and doubting ones, and 
because the proposed constitution w^as too cumbrous and unsatis- 
factor>% action in regard to a permanent organization was post- 
poned; it being expected that there would be a triennial meet- 
ing three years from that date when everything would be 
thoroughly matured and an organization effected. In looking over 
the discussions I find your admirable address in advocacy of 
the organization. Lest you may have forgotten the good things 
you then said I enclose 3'ou herewith a copy of your remarks, sin- 
cerely hoping that you will reproduce them in the National 
Baptist in connection with the call for the meeting. 

Rev. F. T. Gates, after a highly successful pastorate 
with the Central Church, Minneapolis, had just com- 
pleted a campaign for $50,(X)0 for Pillsbury Academy, 
and had been asked to accept the principalship of the 
institution. To him Doctor Morehouse writes : 

Are you coming to Washington? I hope so. I want you 
present at the Education meeting on the sixteenth of May. . . 
Some of our Eastern people want Western light on the subject. 
Come if j'ou can and have a voice in the decision of an in- 
portant matter. 

The months of preparation for this Convention made 
it clear that some of the denominational leaders were not 
favorable to the proposed organization. At least one of 
the denominational papers was reluctant to allow the 
use of its columns for needed publicity. Some of the 



126 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

officials of the other general Societies were lukewarm. 
One or two prominent educators were openly opposed. 
Some of the leading ministers manifested a spirit little 
short of hostility. As Doctor Morehouse was about to 
start for Washington he said to the writer: 

I am hopeful but not sanguine about the result. If the decision 
shall be adverse to such an organization and I go down with 
it, I want you to write my epitaph : " Here lies the man who 
advocated the American Baptist Education Society." 

When the Convention was called to order in Calvary 
Church, the great auditorium was filled to overflowing. 
The gathering was representative of the intelligence and 
the devotion of American Baptists. Educators, both from 
the North and from the South, were present in large 
numbers. Prominent ministers, professional and business 
men were interested listeners to and participants in the 
discussions. The program provided for six addresses 
preceding the business session. Doctor Morehouse was 
one of the six speakers, discussing the proposed forma- 
tion of the Society *' to furnish a suitable arena for the 
consideration of facts and questions pertaining to our 
educational work." 

No one present at that Convention will ever forget the 
gallant and, at times, seemingly hopeless fight which the 
Secretary of the Home Mission Society made that day. 
Some of the addresses upon which he had counted most 
were disappointing. After one address which Doctor 
Morehouse had hoped would be pivotal, he went to his 
hotel saying : " I am sick. The day is lost unless I can 
retrieve it. The strongest address proves to be the weak- 
est in its impression for a new organization." He had 
given much time and thought to the preparation of his 
own address, and it made a strong impression upon the 



I 



BY-PRODUCTS 1 27 

members of the Convention. When the question of or- 
ganization came up for general discussion, the opposi- 
tion urged that no new organization was needed; that 
the Convention was not representative, and therefore 
should not take such important action ; that funds to the 
amount of at least $100,000 should be in hand before 
taking any further steps ; that more time was needed for 
consideration. 

It is doubtful if Doctor Morehouse ever won a more 
signal triumph than when, in an extempore speech of 
seven minutes, he answered these objections. When he 
took the platform he was greeted with rounds of ap- 
plause, and at the close of his short address he received 
an ovation. In spite of strenuous efforts to secure a 
postponem.ent of action for one year, the Convention 
voted by an overwhelming majority — 188 to 34 — to pro- 
ceed to the organization of the new Society. Even after 
this decisive action feeling ran so high that some of the 
friends of the movement urged Doctor Morehouse to 
consent to lay the whole matter over for one year. This 
he refused to do. In his notes of this Convention, re- 
ferring to the effort for postponement made after the 
vote was taken, he says : 

I was inflexible, declaring that I would not yield to the wishes 
of a few defeated ones. . . I told them that this was not Antietam 
over again — a drawn battle, but the thing must be decided now ; 
that the opposing party could not be allowed to shape our course. 
So we adopted the Constitution and elected officers. 

Small wonder that he writes, " I never worked seven 
days under such high pressure and so incessantly as 
then." 

When the election of a Corresponding Secretary for 
the new Society came up for consideration, but one name 



128 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

was suggested, that of Rev. F. T. Gates. In view of 
the marvelous foresight of Doctor Morehouse, one can- 
not escape the suspicion that he had this very thing in 
mind when, on the twenty-seventh of the preceding 
month, he had written Mr. Gates urging his presence in 
Washington at this Convention. The friendship between 
these two men began while Mr. Gates was a student at 
Rochester, and it was the judgment of Doctor More- 
house, based upon years of intimate acquaintance, that 
no man could be found better fitted for the position both 
by experience and by natural ability than Mr. Gates. In 
this verdict the Executive Committee heartily concurred. 
The strength of Doctor Morehouse's conviction as to the 
importance of securing Mr. Gates for this position is re- 
vealed by a note found in his diary : 

I fully decided that if he (Mr. Gates) did not accept, I would 
resign, giving at length my reason for doing so, and leave the 
Home Mission Society to take the Corresponding Secretaryship 
of the Education Society, throwing myself upon the denomina- 
tion. I resolved to dedicate myself to this work rather than to 
have a halt or a failure, even though it should reduce me to 
poverty. 

Greatly to the satisfaction of Doctor Morehouse and the 
friends of the Society, Mr. Gates decided to undertake 
the important work to which he had been called, and soon 
afterward assumed the leadership in what was to be one 
of the most significant movements in our denominational 
history. 

In view of the fact that the American Baptist Educa- 
tion Society has had only a nominal existence for many 
years now, some may feel that the space given to this 
account of its genesis is out of proportion to its impor- 
tance. It is true that its direct ministry was confined 
to a comparatively short period of time. But during this 



BY-PRODUCTS 12g 

time, as the channel through which Mr. Rockefeller di- 
rected his large gifts for education, it performed a great 
if not an invaluable service. The high estimate put 
upon the work of the Society by Mr. Rockefeller is indi- 
cated in a letter written by Mr. Gates to Doctor More- 
house under date of December i6, 1902 : 

Of the value of the American Baptist Education Society to 
the denomination, and through the denomination to the public, 
during the fourteen years of its existence, it is not necessary 
for me to speak; but in Mr. Rockefeller's behalf, and at his 
request, I take the occasion of your retirement from the Secre- 
taryship to record his grateful acknowledgment of the helpful- 
ness of the Society to himself. Through your influence, and 
indeed by your direct, personal agency, the Society was organ- 
ized at Washington in 1888. At that time Mr. Rockefeller was 
receiving many requests from Baptist institutions, flowing in from 
various parts of the country, for aid. He was almost wholly 
unacquainted with the relative needs, merits, opportunities, and 
resources of Baptist academies and colleges, north and south. 
He was overwhelmed with business cares. His son, Mr. John 
D. Rockefeller, Jr., had not completed his education, and was not 
able to be of service to him. During these years the Society 
has made appropriations, approved and paid by Mr. Rockefeller, 
to all or nearly all the Baptist institutions throughout the coun- 
try, and to some of them several times over. . . The Board of the 
Education Society and you as its Secretary have not only been 
the means of familiarizing him with the conditions and needs of 
our institutions, but also, as representing the denomination at 
large, the Board has kept him in touch with the prevailing 
sentiments among Baptists with regard to their own institutions, 
their merits and requirements. In this way the Society has 
enabled Mr. Rockefeller to distribute such funds as he thought 
wise for educational purposes in his own denomination with 
an assurance and confidence such as, without the aid of the 
Society, he could never have attained. Indeed, without its aid, 
he very probably would not have ventured so largely into the 
field of educational benefactions. Mr. Rockefeller desires to 
acknow:ledge not only the faithfulness and disinterestedness 
of the service which you and the members of the Board have 
I 



130 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

rendered, but to bear tribute to the very great wisdom v/hich has 
uniformly marked the recommendations of the Board. 

Not only did the Society do much to stimulate de- 
nominational interest in education — something greatly 
needed — and act as almoner for Mr. Rockefeller in his 
gifts to educational enterprises, but it had to do, both 
directly and indirectly, with the founding of the greatest 
educational institution under Baptist auspices — the Uni- 
versity of Chicago. While the story of this institution 
has been told with irresistible charm by Dr. T. W. Good- 
speed, in which full credit is given to Doctor Morehouse 
for the part which he had in making this school possible, 
it seems proper that the part which Doctor Morehouse 
played in bringing into existence this great University, 
should find record in this story of his life, even at the 
expense of some repetition. 

When Mr. Gates assumed the duties of his office as 
Corresponding Secretary of the Society, three distinct 
educational projects were being urged upon the attention 
of the denomination. The old Chicago University had 
closed its doors. Baptists of the Middle West were anx- 
iously seeking some relief from the educational disaster 
which had overtaken them. The wisest among them felt 
that every interest of the denomination demanded the re- 
establishment of the old institution or the establishment 
of a new one. Dr. Augustus H. Strong, President of 
Rochester Theological Seminary, urged the importance 
of an institution for purely postgraduate work, to be es- 
tablished in the city of New York with an investment of 
at least twenty millions of dollars. Doctor Welling, of 
Columbian University, Washington, held the profound 
conviction that the nation's capital was the strategic ^ , 
place for a great Baptist university. Very naturally, the ™ 
friends of these three projects sought the endorsement 



BY-PRODUCTS I3I 

and aid of the Education Society. It was hoped that Mr. 
Rockefeller would give largely toward the establishment 
of some educational institution, and his growing confi- 
dence in and use of the Education Society made it prob- 
able that he would be influenced, not a little, by the Secre- 
tary and Board of the new organization. 

During this time of flux and discussion, the Secretary 
of the Education Society busied himself in making a care- 
ful study of the educational situation, bringing to his in- 
vestigations that penetration and power of analysis which 
had characterized him as student and pastor. The results 
of his study were given to the public in a remarkable ad- 
dress before the Baptist ministers of Chicago, in October, 
1888. In this address he fully committed himself to Chi- 
cago as the place where Baptists should center their 
eflforts for the creation of a university. In the following 
December he secured from the Board of the Education 
Society the adoption of the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That the establishment of a thoroughly equipped 
institution of learning in Chicago is an immediate and impera- 
tive denominational necessity. 

Resolved, That we rejoice in the powerful sentiment favorable 
to such an institution that prevails not only in Chicago and the 
West, but also throughout the denomination at large. 

Resolved, That we invite brethren of means to unite in the 
endeavor to found such an institution, and pledge the hearty 
cooperation of this Board; and that the Secretary of the Society 
be directed to use every means in his power to originate and 
encourage such a movement. 

That Doctor Morehouse was in perfect sympathy with 
this action is seen from a letter written to Mr. Gates on 
October 19, 1888, " I hope that a good Providence will 
open the way for the establishment of the institution in 
Chicago." While fully recognizing the strength of the 



132 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

arguments advanced by those who favored New York 
City as the location for the university, he wrote Doctor 
Strong in April, 1889, '' A first-class college at Chicago 
is beyond any question in my own mind the first and 
essential thing in the development of our educational 
work in the West." 

The Provisional Committee in Chicago handed over 
the direction of the campaign to the Board of the Educa- 
tion Society, and Mr. Gates threw himself, with all his 
extraordinary ability, into the stupendous task of realiz- 
ing the vision which he and his fellow prophets had seen. 
With him was associated Dr. T. W. Goodspeed, whose 
long and intimate acquaintance with Baptist educational 
interests in the Mississippi valley, wide experience, and 
exceptional administrative ability made his services of 
immeasurable value. This is not the place in which to 
give, in detail, the history of the long and arduous strug- 
gle carried on by Mr. Gates and Doctor Goodspeed 
which eventuated in the University of Chicago. Doctor 
Goodspeed's admirable history of that institution has 
made it unnecessary for the writer of this biography to 
do more than call attention to the complete^ story as writ- 
ten by one who possessed unsurpassed qualifications for 
his task. While Doctor Morehouse had little or no direct 
part in the campaign to raise $400,000 with which to 
meet Mr. Rockefeller's conditional offer of $600,000, he 
was the constant and trusted adviser of the two men who 
carried this important undertaking to a successful 
termination. 

Hardly less important than the raising of the $1,000,- 
000, was the selection of the President of the institution. 
From the first, those most interested in the enterprise 
had felt that one man was preeminently qualified for this 
difficult but immensely important position — Dr. William 



BY-PRODUCTS 133 

Rainey Harper. Yale University, of whose faculty he 
was a member, put forth the utmost efforts to retain 
him. Just when it was thought that the solicitations of 
the friends of the new institution had prevailed, and 
that Doctor Harper would certainly accept the presi- 
dency of the University of Chicago, criticism of his 
theological teachings was heard from influential quarters 
within the Baptist body. Almost morbidly sensitive, Doc- 
tor Harper drew back and refused to consider the place 
until he had made a frank statement of his views and 
had received the endorsement of the denomination. At 
this juncture Doctor Morehouse, who had constantly 
urged Doctor Harper to accept, wrote a letter represent- 
ing not only his personal views but those of Mr. Rocke- 
feller, with whom he had been in consultation. As this 
communication, addressed to Doctor Harper, seems to 
have had much to do with bringing the latter to a favor- 
able decision, it is reproduced here in full : 

New York, February 2, 1891. 

Dear Doctor Harper: Mr. Rockefeller has shown me your 
letter of January 8 touching your acceptance of the presidency 
of the University of Chicago. While I am in no sense authorized 
to represent Mr. Rockefeller, at the same time you may implicitly 
rely upon the following statements as embodying substantially 
his conclusions as well as my own in this matter: 

I. In view of the antecedent understanding between Mr. Rocke- 
feller and yourself, your reading of his letter (promising a 
million dollars) to the Board of Trustees of the University was, 
in effect, your ratifying act in the acceptance of the presidency. 
As that bound him, so it bound you. It would not now be 
considered fair and honorable for you to recede, even on the 
score of apprehended difficulties or embarrassments, while he 
should be held to the performance of his costly pledge. This is 
the plain business view of the case, the view which the keen 
business men of Chicago and elsewhere will surely take should 



134 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

all the facts become known. I have no doubt you view this in 
the same light. 

2. After matters have gone so far, and after so long a time, 
the introduction of new conditions as prerequisite to your 
formal acceptance of the presidency is not regarded with favor 
and, if pressed, would undoubtedly result in serious impairment 
of the present cordial relations between Mr. Rockefeller on the 
one hand and yourself and the University on the other. 

3. Mr. Rockefeller has neither the time nor the inclination to 
decide mooted theological questions and to assume the respon- 
sibility of saying what you should teach — especially when that re- 
sponsibility rests elsewhere. And as to the proposed confer- 
ence with others and yourself on this subject, he prefers to 
abide by the decision of the brethren with whom you have fully 
conferred in Chicago, and who, while recognizing divergence 
of views, regard you, in essentials, as in accord with them. The 
brethren named by you would be reluctant practically to sit in 
judgment upon the candor or the competency of those with whom 
you have already conferred. 

4. You inquire whether it would be wise, in case you should 
not have the privilege of teaching your views, to accept the 
presidency. This, of course, is a hypothetical case which was 
not a factor in the original compact as ratified by you, and hence 
ought not to be expressed. It certainly would be unwise, after 
all that has been done, after all the expectations that have been 
raised, after the great momentum that has been obtained, to 
plunge the enterprise into confusion, to arrest progress, to 
destroy the bright hopes of the hour, by declining to give in 
your final acceptance until somebody should determine what 
would be best in such a case. This may be left to the logic of 
events. The wisdom of introducing new complications at this 
critical stage in the enterprise will be questioned by your best 
friends. It would seem wiser for you, if necessary, to forego 
the exercise of some right in the way of dogmatic teaching of 
views somewhat divergent from those commonly accepted, than 
to insist upon it at any cost and, in case it were not granted, 
involve the enterprise in unspeakable embarrassment by your 
withdrawal. The responsibility of acceptance, even in view of 
the suggested possibilities of the case, may be left in the hands 
of Him whose grace and guidance we all seek. The private 
committal has been made, and the chief patron of the enter- 



BY-PRODUCTS 135 

prise is not prepared to give his consent to a reopening of the 
question or a reversal of the decision. 

Most truly yours, 

H. L. Morehouse. 

Writing of this letter Doctor Goodsp^ed says : 

The letter of Doctor Morehouse cleared the air. Agreeing 
fully with the advice of the Chicago men it finally convinced 
Doctor Harper. It lifted him out of his morbidness. No more 
evidence of it appeared. He no longer delaj-ed taking the pre- 
liminary steps toward the acceptance of the presidency. 

For ten years after Mr. Gates left the service of the 
Education Society, Doctor Morehouse filled the office 
of Corresponding Secretary of that Society with little or 
no remuneration. It was a labor of love. The formation 
of the General Education Board and Mr. Rockefeller's 
use of it as the medium of his educational benefactions, 
left the Baptist Society with little to administer. While 
this Board still exists as a legal entity, its functions have 
been taken over by the Board of Education of the North- 
ern Baptist Convention. 

Now that the University of Chicago has come to a 
foremost place among the educational institutions of the 
country and of the world, we sometimes hear it said 
that this man or that initiated the movement out of which 
it grew. It is safe to say that not one of the men who 
were most largely influential in bringing this University 
into being ever lays claim to the honor of begetting it. 
Four names are imperishably associated with the forma- 
tion of this honored school : John D. Rockefeller, William 
R. Harper, F. T. Gates, and T. W. Goodspeed. With 
them, in the grateful recognition of all lovers of learning, 
will be linked the name of Henry L. Morehouse as that 



136 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

of one who stirred the Baptist denomination to new inter- 
est in Christian education and, by creating the American 
Baptist Education Society, prepared the way for such an 
undertaking as that which produced the University of 
Chicago. 

No one ever questioned Doctor Morehouse's loyalty to 
the Baptist denomination. He was not narrow or big- 
oted, and delighted to work with his fellow Christians 
whatever name they might bear ; but the members of his 
own " household of faith " were especially dear to him. 
If circumstances sometimes involved him in discussion 
with his Baptist brethren of the South as to territorial 
lines, he never lost sight of the larger denominational 
interests common to all sections. Although burdened 
with official duties, he took time to reflect upon the divi- 
sions which separate American Baptists into distinct 
groups, and found himself longing for a closer relation- 
ship between these bodies. Out of this thoughtful in- 
terest the General Convention of Baptists of North 
America was born. As no other man, living or dead, 
had as much to do with the formation of this Convention 
as did the Corresponding Secretary of the American Bap- 
tist Home Mission Society, it is fitting that he should tell 
the story of its genesis : 

The fulness of the time had come for this organization. Long 
had many been feeling their v/ay toward such a consummation. 
There were strong yearnings for a closer, more comprehensive 
fellowship. Many had been the converging influences in this 
direction. The asperities of the war had died out. Each section 
recognized the valor and the sincerity of the other. The Cuban 
war brought former antagonists together under the old banner 
of the Stars and Stripes, giving it new luster of humanity and 
glory. The death of the beloved President McKinley tenderly 
bound the hearts of the whole nation that wept together over 
a common sorrow. 



J 



BY-PRODUCTS 1 37 

Many religious influences had been operative to this end. 
Southern preachers and people in Northern churches, and North- 
ern preachers and people in Southern churches, had come into 
fraternal relations and established numerous centers of fellow- 
ship that led to larger cravings. Northern Baptist newspapers 
circulated in the South and Southern papers in the North. Rep- 
resentatives of the American Baptist Home Mission Society and 
of the American Baptist Publication Society, in their forty years' 
work at the South since the war, had enjoyed fellowship of ser- 
vice with many leading Southern Baptists. The American Bap- 
tist Education Society, organized in 1888, representing the whole 
country'-, meeting alternately at the North and at the South, and 
aiding liberally many institutions of learning in both sections for 
fifteen years, contributed much to the spirit of unification; as 
did also the Baptist Young People's Union of America, organ- 
ized in 1890, and the Baptist Congress organized in 1882, whose 
meetings likewise were held in the North and in the South. 
Plans of cooperation between Northern and Southern Bap- 
tists in home missions, like those growing out of the Fortress 
Monroe Conference of 1895, and later, in Indian and Oklahoma 
Territories, showed the beauty and benefit of union in service for 
Christ. The first pronounced note for unification, sounded by 
Missouri Baptists about five years ago, though no definite steps 
were taken to accomplish it, had a considerable effect in prepar- 
ing the way for it in that quarter at least. Then came the 
gropings of Northern Baptists for unification of their organized 
activities, or for a closer fraternal relationship among them, and 
a desire for general meetings such as were held for several 
years, to consider matters of denominational interest. The 
meeting of the World's Baptist Congress, and the difficulties en- 
countered in having Baptists of the North and of the South, 
respectively, properly and equitably represented therein, accen- 
tuated the desirability of some general organization of Amer- 
ican Baptists. These, and other things that might be mentioned, 
may be regarded as preparatory processes of the Spirit of God 
for the fraternal reunion of the Baptists of the North and of 
the South after their sad separation for sixty years; with the 
yet larger fraternity of the Baptists of Canada, Mexico, Cuba, 
and Porto Rico. 

While pondering over these things the Corresponding Secretary 
of the American Baptist Hiome Mission Society saw the most 



138 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

exceptional opportunity for a general meeting of American Bap- 
tists at St. Louis, Missouri, in May, 1905, between the meetings 
of the Northern Baptist Anniversaries there and those of the 
Southern Baptist Convention at Kansas City the week before, 
in a State neither Northern nor Southern, but common territory, 
whose offerings go to Baptist missions of both sections and where 
Baptists were known to be favorable to unification. Never can 
he forget the profound impression borne in upon his soul that the 
hour for action had come, nor how he shrank from taking the 
initiative, on account of the responsibilities and labor, and even 
the risk of failure involved in the attempt. And yet he could 
not be disobedient to the heavenly vision. The approval of two 
or three esteemed brethren to whom he disclosed his purpose 
was another favorable indication ; v/hich became more pronounced 
when the Executive Board of the Society at its meeting in 
November, 1904, unanimously adopted the resolution presented 
for a Conference in January to consider the advisability of a 
meeting in May, at St. Louis, for the organization of a General 
Convention. The emphatic and unanimous decision of that 
Conference, composed of representatives from our great mission- 
ary organizations, and others from the North and the South 
prominent in denominational affairs, with commendations from 
scores of others who could not attend, from all parts of the 
country, was properly regarded as a clear call for such an or- 
ganization. Corroboration of this was found in the favorable 
reception of the project by the denominational papers generally. 
As was to be expected, a few doubted, some were suspicious and 
some objections were urged but the grand chorus was for an 
expression of our essential harmony and unity in one general 
convention. 

About two and a half months elapsed between the call for the 
Conference and its meeting; and about three and a half months 
between the Conference and the meeting at St. Louis. During 
the latter period the Corresponding Secretary was encouraged by 
the attitude of many influential brethren whom he met in a 
Southern trip to several schools for the colored people; while 
the Committee of Nine appointed by the Conference were 
cheered by the cordial acceptance of their invitation to eminent 
men of both sections, to address the meeting at St. Louis. As 
the decisive hour drew near, special interest was taken in the 
temper and attitude toward the matter of the Southern Baptist 



BY-PRODUCTS 1 39 

Convention, at its session in Kansas City. The selection by that 
body for its president of a favorite son of Missouri, who had 
already accepted the invitation of the Committee of Nine to be 
the temporary presiding officer of the meeting at St. Louis and 
was known to be in favor of it, had great weight with the 
Convention, which unanimously adopted a resolution ex- 
pressive of its sympathy with the movement and appointing 
its officers to represent it in the St. Louis meeting. It was 
evident indeed that the fulness of the time had come for a 
fraternal reunion, and that the new organization was a foregone 
conclusion. 

If, after this, there was any doubt, it was dispelled on that 
first night when about three thousand people, including several 
hundred from the Convention at Kansas City, met in two great 
assemblages in adjacent houses of worship, caught the inspira- 
tion and the keynote of fellowship, responded enthusiastically 
to every statement of our essential unity, and sang "Blest be 
the tie that binds " as it was never before sung by American 
Baptists. The same high tide of feeling ran through the two 
important sessions of the following day, when not a discordant 
note nor a word in opposition to the proposed organization was 
heard. The unanimity and heartiness with which the organi- 
zation was effected, all things considered, was truly wonderful. 
Everybody was glad for the privilege of participating in it. The 
occasion was historic. The good tidings of what had been accom- 
plished produced great rejoicing through the denomination, a 
confirmation of the timeliness of the action. The feeling o£ 
many was expressed by a distinguished brother who had borne 
arms under the Confederacy : " I was afraid I would die without 
seeing this." 

Surely, we cannot consider the genesis of the General Bap- 
tist Convention of Baptists of North America without coming to 
the conclusion that the way for it was providentially prepared, 
that it meets a deep longing in the hearts of American Baptists ; 
that it was not an artificial contrivance imposed upon the de- 
nomination, but was indeed born of God. 

As to its future: we need not greatly concern ourselves about 
that. If it is of God, he will also clearly indicate in due time 
its mission not only in his kingdom on this continent, but for the 
world. It will surely find a large field of service for him whom 
it recognizes as its Creator and its Guide, 



140 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Not all the hopes for this organization which filled the 
heart of its originator have, as yet, been realized. It has 
been found difficult to secure a representative attendance 
at the triennial meetings, especially in those years when 
the meeting-places of the Northern Convention and of 
the Southern Convention have been widely separated. 
For some years past no meeting has been attempted. And 
yet, no one familiar with the facts will doubt that this 
continental organization of Baptists, so loosely bound 
together, has performed a useful function. It has helped 
Baptists of different sections to think about each other 
in terms of fellowship and brotherhood ; something much 
needed. It has promoted acquaintance and personal 
friendships and thus helped to grow mutual confidence. 
Just now there is a prospect that, in the not distant fu- 
ture, it may serve American Baptists in practical ways, 
as furnishing a forum for the discussion of questions 
which vitally concern us. Whatever the General Con- 
vention has done or has not done, it furnishes us with 
an invaluable revelation of the spirit of Henry L. More- 
house. 

Doctor Morehouse extended constant hospitality to 
kind thoughts. As far as possible he translated the 
thoughts into kind deeds. No man could have gained 
the warm love of so many people without being some- 
thing more than an efficient machine for the accom- 
plishment of important tasks. The great administrative 
ability of Doctor Morehouse may explain our admiration 
for him, but it leaves our affection unaccounted for. How 
many young men he encouraged and advised! How 
many despairing churches he heartened! How many 
perplexed pastors and missionaries he helped over hard 
places ! He was never so overburdened that he could not 



BY-PRODUCTS I4I 

find room on his shoulders for a part of his brother's 
load. 

Being the man he was, he could not fail to be touched 
with the hard lot of some of the aged ministers of Christ. 
As early as 1882, speaking in behalf of a proposed home 
for aged ministers and those dependent upon them, he 
declared, " Blessings from on high will rest upon the 
denomination that makes suitable provision for the dis- 
abled servants of Christ." Some years before the move- 
ment to provide for our aged brethren and their families 
took definite form, Doctor Morehouse secured the ap- 
pointment of a committee to consider and report upon a 
plan for aiding aged ministers who were without means, 
but nothing definite was accomplished at that time. It 
was not until 191 1 that the Ministers and Missionaries 
Benefit Board was established under the auspices of the 
Northern Baptist Convention. The " Man from Penn- 
sylvania " had offered $50,000 on condition that the de- 
nomination raise $200,000 additional by the twenty-fifth 
of the following December. Doctor Morehouse was not 
only the originator of the undertaking, but furnished 
much of the driving-power which brought this campaign 
to a successful issue. On the seventh of December only 
about one half of the needed amount had been raised. 
Some of the warmest friends of the enterprise were well- 
nigh discouraged. Doctor Morehouse was " cast down 
but not destroyed." On that date he addressed a com- 
munication to the Board of the Ministers and Mission- 
aries Benefit Fund containing the following proposition, 
remarkable for practical expression of the spirit of cou- 
rageous devotion in the emergency: 

So critical is the situation that I am constrained to devote the 
major part of all that I possess to the attainment of this object. 
Accordingly I make the following proposition to the Board 



142 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

and through it to those who are far more able than myself to 
make such an offering, namely: 

I will pledge ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or so much thereof 
as may be necessary, if others in large measure will unite with 
me in underwriting this last $100,000, upon the understanding 
that if less than $100,000 shall be needed, our payments shall be 
proportionately less. It is also understood that these pledges may 
be paid in four semiannual instalments, beginning with January, 
1912. 

That the response of the denomination made this sac- 
rifice on his part unnecessary, detracts not at all from 
the sacrificial spirit displayed by Doctor Morehouse, 
That the denomination would be everlastingly disgraced 
were it to allow Doctor Morehouse to impoverish him- 
self on their behalf was felt by at least one man, for the 
following letter was sent to the Secretary on the last 
day of the campaign : 

Dear Doctor Morehouse: Replying to your letter of January 
24, I am instructed by Mr. Rockefeller's Committee to say that, 
in Mr. Rockefeller's behalf, they will crave the privilege of 
having you as their guest in this matter of underwriting and 
assuming the part of the bill which would fall to you. This is 
one of the few pleasures which Mr. Rockefeller's fortune admits 
of his enjoying, and we trust that you will not deprive him of 
this privilege. Whatever, therefore, falls to you and him under 
the guarantee, he begs the privilege to assume. 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) F. T. Gates. 

A little of the rejoicing at the rooms when it was found 
that the $250,000 mark had been passed, may be gath- 
ered from Doctor Morehouse's own description of the 
closing day of the campaign : 

Expectation was on tiptoe. Solicitude lurked in the rear. 
Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of December 25 



BY-PRODUCTS 143 

Secretary Morehouse entered the Home iMission rooms facing 
}Jadison Square. Quickly there followed a herald of Santa 
Claus, in the person of a messenger-boy with more than sixty 
telegrams from far and near. Soon thereafter came another 
herald in the person of a postman wath about one hundred and 
seventy letters. Rip ! Rip ! Rip ! went the letter-openers through 
the envelopes. Soon after nine o'clock Secretary Tomlinson 
enters, followed by one of the clerical force at the rooms. Ting- 
a-Ung-ling ! Hello ! The pastor of a prominent Brooklyn church 
announces that the offering from his people is nearly $6,000. He 
gets the title " Captain of Industry." 

More lettergrams and telegrams, by twos, threes, and fives. 
More telephone calls and pledges from pastors in and around 
New York. A second mail with about thirty' more letters. Mes- 
senger-boys coming and going, broadly smiling over their harvest 
of commissions on the delivery of messages. Stacks of tele- 
grams! Stacks of letters! Yes, and stacks of pledges. In 
comes Rev. J. Madison Hare, of New Jersey, who rendered 
yeoman service in the campaign and now lends a hand in arrang- 
ing documents. Doctor Barnes arrives from a western trip 
about eleven o'clock. On goes the swelling stream until noon, 
by which time about $30,000 additional in pledges had been re- 
ported. Ting-a-llng-ling ! Mrs. Tomlinson phones from Eliza- 
beth that a raft of letters is there with several thousand dollars 
in pledges. This is indeed a "whirlwind" close of the ninety 
da5's* campaign. 

The noon hour was an eventful one. On Saturday the twenty- 
third. Secretary Morehouse received a special letter from 26 
Broadway, in which was enclosed another in a sealed envelope 
marked "Not to be opened until twelve o'clock on Christmas 
Day." There was something mysterious about this. Curiosity 
was keen. Just as the big bells high up in the Metropolitan 
tower boomed out the hour of twelve the letter w^as taken from 
the safe and read, and then there was another "boom" in the 
form of a pledge of $40,000 or so much thereof as might be 
needed to make up any lack in securing the $200,000 required. 
Footings of the receipts showed that this pledge clinched the 
$200,000 with something to spare. . . Such a " Merry Christmas " 
as this the Baptist denomination has never before enjoyed. 
Touching instances of devotion were numerous. Surely the 
denomination will be more self-respecting and will find spiritual 



144 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

blessing in thus laying upon the altar of Jesus Christ this gift 
of $250,000 on Christmas Day. 

Since that time this fund has been increased to about 
one million dollars, and it will continue to grow and to 
bless through all the years to come. To have had the 
vision to see and the devotion to realize this noble foun- 
dation is enough to give one a warm and secure place in 
the hearts of his brethren. It was only a " by-product " 
of the life of Doctor Morehouse. 



VIII 

PREACHER AND POET 

AT least one admirer of Doctor Morehouse, if he is 
consistent, will skip this chapter, for he has warned 
the writer that no one reads sermons, however excellent 
they may be. Although his contention is more or less 
justified, it has seemed best to include in this volume 
samples of Doctor Morehouse's platform work and of 
his verse. He was a preacher of power, and his public 
addresses went far toward winning for him the large 
place which he held in our denominational Hfe. He is 
known as the Christian Statesman not alone for his skill 
in administration, but also because of his ability to pre- 
sent his cause with telling effect. Those who may turn 
to this volume with the expectation of finding something 
like an adequate interpretation of the man and his work 
would be disappointed, if not resentful, were they to find 
no specimen of his sermonic work and no example of 
his public addresses. Nowhere did Doctor Morehouse 
reveal more clearly his remarkable fund of information 
and his power for straight thinking than when before an 
audience. 

Doctor Morehouse excelled as a public speaker. His 
power on the platform seems the more remarkable when 
one notes his economy in the use of illustration. It 
would have been impossible for him to offer his hearers 
a mere collection of stories strung on a thin line of 
comment. 

As one attempts to analyze his power over an audience 

the absolute sincerity of the man is the first quality to 

K 145 



146 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

attract attention. He was honest and his hearers felt it. 
He believed what he said and said what he believed. 
He played no tricks either with the audience or with 
himself. Those who listened to him' had a most com- 
fortable sense of security from being deceived by spe- 
cious reasoning or rhetorical camouflage. 

But many an honest speaker is deadly dull. Added 
to Doctor Morehouse's sincerity was an unusual ability 
to go to the heart of a subject; to crack it open and make 
clear its component parts. Just how much of this ability 
was natural and how much was due to his training under 
Doctor Anderson and Doctor Robinson we may not de- 
termine; but whatever the explanation, lucidity and 
penetration characterized his public utterances to an un- 
usual degree. He was wont to treat his subject in a 
series of propositions, set forth clearly and supported by 
cogent argument. His innate love of order revealed 
itself in his addresses. Some public speakers seem to 
have no difficulty in gaining their own consent to be- 
ginning anywhere and proceeding in any direction. 
Such a method would have been impossible for Doctor 
Morehouse. He began at the beginning and moved for- 
ward, not sideways like a crab or backward like a cuttle- 
fish. 

His unusual ability to collect and retain useful facts 
made his mind a great arsenal stored with just the am- 
munition which he needed. He sometimes spoke off- 
hand, and with telling effect; but it was not without 
preparation. It is said that when Henry Ward Beecher 
was congratulated upon a striking extemporaneous ad- 
dress which he had made, he replied, " Extempore ! I 
have been preparing for that address for twenty-five 
years." Doctor Morehouse, especially in the later years 
of his life, simply tapped the reservoir which he had been 



PREACHER AND POET I47 

patiently filling through decades of observation and 
study. 

His sermons and addresses were much more than pres- 
entations of propositions logically related. Ever and 
again a sentence would be pronounced that cracked like 
a whip. Not often, but occasionally, a humorous remark 
lighted up the discourse, for his sense of humor was 
keen and constant. In it all there was the strong and 
compelling personality. Physical vigor, intellectual acu- 
men, transparent honesty, moral earnestness, and felici- 
tous phrasing all joined to make him a persuasive and 
convincing speaker. 

The address selected, while not the greatest that he 
ever delivered, is thoroughly representative. It deals 
with the interest which commanded his special devotion 
for the greater part of his active life, and reveals those 
qualities of thought and expression which made him so 
effective as a public speaker. 

What Home Missions Have Done for America 

An Address before the Long Island Baptist Association 

We celebrate a double centennial : the beginning in England 
of the new experiment of foreign missions; the beginning in 
America of the new experiment of separation of Church and 
State. In both Baptists were pioneers. Men of mighty faith as- 
sailed the strongholds of paganism. Men of moral nerve, with 
sturdy strokes, forged and fashioned the civil instrument of re- 
ligious liberty, which is the crowning feature of our goodly Ship 
of State. Others aided and fell into line, but the glory of this 
God-given leadership belongs to our Baptist ancestry. Nor 
should it be forgotten that Roger Williams was the pioneer mis- 
sionary to the North American Indians, fifteen years before 
Eliot, and one hundred and sixty before Carey went to India. 
We do not boast ; we are thankful that God so honored us. 

The simultaneousness of these events was significant. As God 
sent Carey forth from the old to the older world, he spake 



148 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

light and liberty to . the new world, for the development of 
needed forces and resources in the next century. 

Prior to 1792, Baptists in America had been a feeble folk, a 
poor, despised, persecuted sect, numbering then 65,000, of whom 
about one-third were in New England and New York, and one- 
third in Virginia. From 1792 American Baptists began to hold 
up their heads, and new hope filled their hearts. A fair field 
and no favors w^as what they asked and what they got. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT 

With the subsidence of the tumultuous passions of the Revo- 
lution, with the firm establishment of a general government, with 
the opening and expansion of the territory of the United States, 
they dimly saw the glories of this time, and applied them- 
selves with missionary zeal to give the gospel to the pioneer 
settlements in the Far West of Central New York and the 
adjacent regions. Even before this the missionary spirit had 
expressed itself, but in the next ten years it had assumed organ- 
ized activity that was the germ of our larger organizations of 
later years. While home mission work was the immediate thing, 
foreign missions were a contemplated possibility, as is clearly 
shown by the avowed object of one of these early societies. 
Home missions gave us the first missionary magazine, which 
greatly stimulated Christian benevolence during the first decade 
of this century. For at least twenty-five years before God in 
his wonderful way summoned American Baptists to the foreign 
mission enterprise the missionary spirit had been burning brightly 
here. There had been developed the sense of duty to the 
destitute and to the North American Indians, so that there was 
a quick response to the bugle-call from India's shores. The 
foreign mission bud was grafted on good home mission stock, 
and the fruit of both has abounded to the glory of God. 

THE THEME 

I have been asked to speak on what home missions have done 
for America during these hundred years. I need an hour ; I have 
but thirty minutes. The arrangement to-night is a kind of mis- 
sionary sandwich — liberal slices of foreign mission brown bread 
from Boston and from the w^ell-heated Presbyterian oven, with a 
little piece of home mission tongue between. I shall not wonder 



PREACHER AND POET 149 

if what I say is utterly lost to sight amid these smothering sur- 
roundings of eloquence from our honored brethren, nevertheless 
it must be said. 

HOME MISSIONARY HEROES 

I. And I want to say this first: That home missions have 
given to America Christian heroes, whose unselfish services 
have never been duly recognized. The romance of home mis- 
sions is yet to be written. Did you ever hear of William Fristoe, 
who, more than a hundred years ago, said, " Neither winter's 
frost nor summer's heat is to be dreaded; the frown of men 
and the rage of devils must be borne, when the object is win- 
ning a bride for, and the espousing of souls to, Christ"? Did 
you ever hear of Ashbel Hosmer, the pioneer of Central New 
York, " traveling night and day, in heat and cold, sun and 
rain, through dismal fields and unbeaten roads"? Of others 
farther West, who, in their mission to the perishing, swam swol- 
len streams, slept in camps and cabins or on mother earth? 
Did you ever hear of Loomis, in Michigan, sixty years ago, who 
traveled, mostly on foot, forty-five hundred miles, and preached 
nearly three hundred sermons to the new settlers in one year? 
Are you familiar with the story of John M. Peck and his twelve- 
hundred mile drive in a small one-horse wagon from Connecticut 
to the Mississippi, with his wife and three little children, often 
through long stretches of wilderness, and how, after his con- 
suming labors at the age of forty-eight, he wrote himself down 
"an old man"? Do you know of Fisher and Johnson and 
their overland journey of twentj''-five hundred miles to Oregon, 
consuming seven and a half months, during which they and 
their families rarely laid off their clothes at night, sleeping in 
tents on the ground, until worn down with fatigue and care, 
" all," as Fisher said, " for the cause of Christ in Oregon "? Or, 
of Freeman, who first planted our standard sixty years ago 
at Fort Dearborn, with its motley company of soldiers, and set- 
tlers, and Indians, where this week is dedicated the grandest 
group of buildings that a World's Fair has ever known — Freeman 
who fell, in his prime, of overwork, saying, " I die at my post 
and in my Master's work"? Have you known of these, and of 
Posey, and McCoy, and Jones among the Indians? Of the 
brave souls also, who, enduring the cross of social ostracism, 
and despising the shame with which they were regarded, went 



150 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

down into the degradation of the emancipated of the South, 
laying Hfe and love and all their powers upon the altar to lift 
the lowly to the plane of Christian manhood and womanhood? 
Have you known of these^ — these who rank with the Christian . 
heroes and heroines on foreign fields; these who quietly and 
unheralded went to their work, lost from public gaze, rarely the 
subjects of human praise, faithful unto death. 

The noiseless band of heavenly soldiery, 
From out the armory of God equipped? 

And do you know of those to-day on western fields, with 
meager salaries, refusing larger offers elsewhere, whose wives 
can have no help in household affairs, to whom boxes of misfit 
garments from the East are welcome — oh, that they could be 
properly paid and live comfortably and dress decently, and this 
old-clothes business for the ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ 
could be forever and utterly abolished! 

Never let us forget these home mission heroes who went forth 
weeping, bearing precious seed for the rich harvests we reap; 
whose godly influence was an inspiration to the righteous, a 
rebuke to impiety, a restraint upon evil; who were the living 
shuttles in the rattling loom of frontier life, all along the ad- 
vancing borders of civilization, introducing into the forming 
texture of society and of the state the strong white linen cords 
of gospel righteousness, according to the heavenly pattern in 
the word of God; men who changed the riotous gambling 
communities of forty-niners into abodes of peace and piety; 
who routed from North Dakota the Louisiana Lottery; who 
mightily helped to undermine Mormonism, and who have made 
the western wilderness to "bud and blossom as the rose." In 
these days of jubilation let honor be given to these unostentatious 
heroes of the Cross, who turned many to righteousness, and who 
shine in the celestial constellations as the stars for ever and ever. 



OUR HOMOGENEOUSNESS 

2. Again, hom'e missions have done much to give us national 
and denominational homogeneousness. Jonathan Going, the first 
Corresponding Secretary of the Home Mission Society, visiting 
Ohio in 1831, wrote this of a new town, " The population seems 



PREACHER AND POET I51 

to be a sprout just cut from Babel." What would he think 
could he visit these great cities where one hundred languages are 
spoken, and this heterogeneous, conglomerate population, unlike 
anything elsewhere or ever before known under the sun? Our 
public schools, our laws, our civil institutions, have a unifying 
power; but the mighty, moral, cementing influence which causes 
real coherence must be the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our denominational unity and uniformity from ocean to ocean 
is very striking. Missionaries went into new towns, where there 
were representatives of a dozen States, each with his own notions 
about church matters, and by patient toil harmonized the diverse 
elements, combated and conquered the antimission, antitemper- 
ance, and anti- Sunday School notions that had found foothold, 
brought the people into line with the benevolent activities of 
the denomination, until to-day we have a marshaled host of 
nearly a million in the North and West, constituents of our 
great missionary organizations, one in faith, in practice, in symr 
pathy, in fraternal regard. Our religious newspapers have been 
potent agencies also. In new settlements, however, as indeed 
in some older communities, not more than one church-member 
in ten takes such a paper. The minister, moving among the 
people continually, molds their opinions and directs their ac- 
tivities. When we consider the thousands of good, cultured men 
that the home mission societies of all denominations have sent 
into the West the past fifty or seventy years, it may be seen 
how much they have had to do with that religious homogeneous- 
ness which is so striking a characteristic of this country. 

And so of national homogeneousness. The church and school 
and civilization of New England and New York were repro- 
duced in many a Western State. The missionary became the 
leader of the moral and intellectual elements in the new com- 
munities. He gathered and led the forces in temperance and 
in moral reforms. Out of chaos came order; seed of the 
East bearing fruit after its kind in the West. 

But now and henceforth, what? With the incoming of mil- 
lions from Europe — millions who have little in common with us, 
who establish their Italian colonies, their Russian colonies, wlio 
perpetuate here the language, the customs, and the irreligion 
of the Old World— what are we coming to? But two other 
cities in the world have a larger German population than New 
York. Buffalo has forty thousand Poles. But one city in the 



152 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

world has more Bohemians than Chicago. The foreign element 
is overshadowing in several Western States. New England 
of to-day is not the New England of our fathers. Barely half of 
her people are descendants of the native stock. With the French 
Canadian irruption she is more and more in the grip of Rome — 
Rome which poses before America to-day as an angel of sweet- 
ness and light, which thrusts itself into the forefront of our 
great celebration to popularize itself here; whose words are 
smoother than butter while the old evil is in its heart. New 
England has become a great foreign mission field at home. 

So it happens that there are irritations and conflicts of nation- 
alities, of systems, of parochial schools versus public schools, of 
Sabbath holidays versus Sabbath holy days, with no bright out- 
look, as things are tending to-day. The great need is that this 
mass shall be permeated by the Christian American idea; shall 
be emancipated from the tyranny of priestly authority; shall 
imbibe the truths of the gospel, and so in the best and only true 
sense become assimilated with us. To save the souls of these 
misguided millions, and to bring these heterogeneous elements 
into harmonious unity, is the aim of the Home Mission Society, 
with its more than two hundred missionaries among the foreign 
populations, and more than one thousand throughout the land. 

SPIRITUAL RESULTS 

3. And now as to direct spiritual results: What has been 
done? Scattered members of Eastern churches gathered and 
organized into effective churches in the West; wanderers re- 
claimed ; religious influences thrown about thousands in their new 
and strange surroundings; sinners converted in mining-camps, 
on ranches, in hut and hamlet, in town and populous city, until the 
Society's missionaries in sixty years have reported 121,000 per- 
sons baptized and others gathered in, to the aggregate number 
of 250,000. Through our Church Edifice Fund about 1,300 
chapels have been built in recent years, where thousands of 
children have been taught the way of Jife. In several Western 
States and Territories nearly every church has had the fostering 
care of the Society — churches that are now strong organizations. 
Thus the strength that has gone from our Eastern churches has 
been conserved to a large extent in the West. We save there 
what here we gained and gave. Otherwise, as a denomination, 



PREACHER AND POET 1 53 

we would be chargeable with the folly of one who earneth 
wages and putteth it into a bag with holes. 

Behold a consecrated company of 16,000 German Baptists, with 
their efl5cient missionary, educational, and publication societies, 
scattering the truth among their countrymen ; about 18,000 Scan- 
dinavian Baptists, with their singular fervor and simplicity of 
spirit; numerous converts from the French and other national- 
ities; see our Chinese converts consistent and earnest in the 
heart of Chinatown in San Francisco and elsewhere; and look 
into the astonishing attendance of two hundred to three hundred 
Chinese at our Sunday night services in Chinatown in New York 
City; behold the power of Mormonism T^roken and many re- 
claimed from their error; see thousands of Indians in our Bap- 
tist churches in Indian and Oklahoma Territories. Behold there 
a miracle of grace, as a Delaware preacher buries in baptism the 
converted murderer of the preacher's own brother, whose two 
sons at the same time surrender their souls to Christ, and are 
at peace with the murderer whose life tliey had vowed to take! 
Behold, the gospel gleams of a better day for Mexico ! And the 
most wonderful of all, see how mightily tlie Word of God has 
prevailed among the colored people of the South in the increase 
of our members among them — from 400,000 in 1865 to 1,250,000 
in 1892, an increase unprecedented in any mission field on earth — 
850,000 in twenty-seven years. The Society's schools, where five 
or six thousand pupils are enrolled, have been great centers of 
religious life and influence ; have sent forth thousands of trained 
Christian teachers and preachers, who have changed and are 
changing for good the eight millions of that peculiar people 
whom the providence of God gave so largely into our keeping as 
a denomination, and for whose more perfect training in Christian 
truth, life, and activity, we are still responsible. Among them 
we find, what we ought soon to find in our older foreign mis- 
sion fields, the prosecution of Christian enterprises by the people 
themselves, support of their own preachers, building their own 
church edifices, actively engaged in educational work, and taking 
an interest in giving the gospel to others. 

New Wells for the World's Needs 

4. One thing more may be noticed : Home missions have raised 
up a large and influential constituency for our foreign mission 



154 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

enterprises. Our great work of seventy-seven years in foreign 
missions has been made possible to no small extent by the great 
fundamental work of the last hundred years in home missions. 
We have had to sow at the same time, with both hands, on the 
right and on the left, at home and abroad, for our children and 
for the stranger. Every demand for new effort abroad has been 
matched by demands for new effort at home. Great opportunities 
there, great opportunities here. Pressure from the old East, 
pressure from the new West, from the new South, from every- 
where. What marvelous developments here! The stress upon 
us in home missions has been amazing. But our work has been 
richly rewarded. Many missionaries and generous offerings 
have gone from regions where, eight years, even fifty years ago, 
we were unknown. A million for foreign missions this cen- 
tennial year would be an impossibility but for the home mission 
work of the century. And as more shall be needed, more work 
of the same sort must be done here. When the water supply 
of Brooklyn was short, what did we do? Out on Long Island 
we sank new wells, put in more steam-pumps to draw and drive 
the living water into the great reservoirs for the growing city's 
needs. Every new church organized in the West is a new well 
opened, and every missionary supported draws from the well 
to help supply the world's thirst. Swedish converts here have 
set Sweden ablaze; German converts here have returned to 
Germany mightily to reenforce our cause there; Chinese con- 
verts here sustain missionaries in China, and return to bless 
their native land; while the stirring of missionary impulses 
among the colored people of the South, for the conversion of 
their kindred in Africa, is known to all; children from the 
Congo being in our schools, and children from our schools being 
missionaries on the Congo, while greater things than any of 
us yet dream of are surely coming. 



" PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF ! " 

5. And yet! and yet! while we have so much to be thankful 
for, I rejoice with trembling as I consider the tendency of things 
to-day in this our loved land ; what changes for evil may come to 
it, and through it, to the world. Are we to keep our heritage? 
One of our foremost men in promoting the cause of foreign 
missions this month, referred to America as a "menace to 



PREACHER AND POET 1 55 

missions." What is meant by this? The counteracting influence 
of cargoes of rum for the Congo; the counteracting influence 
of the outrageous Chinese legislation by the United States Con- 
gress; the lawlessness which in some sections of our land goes 
unpunished and almost unrebuked; the vice that flourishes under 
poHce protection in our great cities; the venality of legislatures 
and municipalities, as illustrated by the Louisiana Lottery, to 
overthrow which required the strong arm of the general gov- 
ernment and strenuous efforts of good men everywhere; a time 
" when wealth accumulates and men decay " ; and last of all, 
that mighty godless sentiment — and this after one hundred years 
of Christian activity — ^which almost got the victory for the 
abolition of the Sabbath day at the World's Fair; this, too, at 
a time when the pestilential angel of death is poised over Europe 
for its westward flight — no time for America to throw its defiance 
of Sabbath desecration in the face of the Almighty Ruler of the 
earth, at whose word the unleashed plague may smite the nation, 
create consternation, derange every human calculation, make 
the world shun our shores, blight our brightest hopes, and convert 
the magnificent structures of the World's Fair into its mausoleum. 
Men and brethren, America is hardly more than half Christian- 
ized. There is an enormous sum of civilized paganism here. 
Even now heathen nations are jeeringly saying to our Christen- 
dom, ** Physician, heal thyself ! " 

Surely if the light grows dim here, the gloom deepens every- 
where. There is a mighty unfinished work yet to be done in 
America. From the bottom of my heart, I want to see a million 
raised for foreign missions this year. But next year we want 
another for home missions. Indeed, a million is needed to half 
endow our freedmen's schools alone. Raise the million, but 
keep in mind the Home Mission Society's call for $600,000 this 
year. Raise the million— but don't rob Peter, the home mis- 
sionary, to pay the foreign missionary, Paul. There is enough 
for both. 

DOING TOO MUCH FOR AMERICA? 

Is it said, we are doing too much for America? I answer: 
We cannot do too much for America, where more and more the 
potent forces of the earth are concentrating; which more and 
more is influencing, for good or ill, the nations of the earth, who 
daily whisper together and discuss about their breakfast-tables 



156 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

each other's doings of the day before. New York talked with 
Chicago to-day ; next you know we may be talking with China. 

Doing too much for America? Would you talk that way 
about a genius in your family? Would you say, Keep him down 
to mediocrity? No! No! You would say, Give him the best 
chance on earth. Money is no object. Let those marvelous 
powers be developed under most favorable conditions. One 
Mendelssohn is worth to the world ten thousand ordinary 
composers ; one Ole Bull worth a regiment of common fiddlers ; 
worth more than a multitude of doggerel rhj^mers is one Alfred 
Tennyson, whose sweet Swan Song as he " crossed the bar " 
has fleetly found its way around the world. Men and brethren, 
America — America is the genius in the family of the nations. 
Genius is erratic; if it goes wrong, it goes awfully wrong; if 
right, it may rule the world. If America is lost to Christ and 
his cause, or even becomes a Christian imbecile, then the world 
is helpless and hopeless. If her effort weakens, if her resources 
fail, what other land will take up her work, from what quarter 
will come help? 

In the world's conflict between the forces of evil and good, 
here is the strategic point, which, at all hazards, must be held. 
What Gibraltar is as the key to the Mediterranean; what pos- 
session of the Plains of Abraham, at Quebec, was to French or 
British dominion of Canada; what the possession of Gulp's 
Hill, and Little Round Top, and the Knoll at the bloody angle, 
was to the issues of the battle of Gettysburg, and so to the 
destinies of this country, such — though with consequences in« 
finitely more important to the world — is the thorough, solid, un- 
shaken possession of this land for our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Many of his sermons preached while pastor were 
printed in the daily press or in pamphlet form. A ser- 
mon delivered while he was at East Saginaw, upon the 
death of Abraham Lincoln, attracted wide attention, and 
a copy of it was requested by the United States Govern- 
ment for preservation in the national archives. His ser- 
mon before the Northern Baptist Convention at Des 
Moines is a fair sample of his sermonic method. The 
theme is one that made strong appeal to his mind and 



PREACHER AND POET 157 

heart, and he brings to its discussion that power of 
analysis and of vigorous thinking which characterized 
his public addresses. 

The Making and Mission of a Denomination 

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . To each 
one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. . . 
All these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each 
one severally even as he will. 

Now ye are the body of Christ, and severally members 
thereof.—/ Cor. 12 : 4, 7, ii, 27. 

In Christianity we find two chief factors: the human and the 
divine; the visible and the invisible; the natural and the super- 
natural. How these are related to each other in the life of the 
individual and in the progress of the kingdom of God in the 
world we cannot precisely understand. We recognize the recep- 
tivity of the human spirit to divine influences; also, the limita- 
tions of divine activity because of human characteristics and 
conditions. Our Lord himself could do no mighty works among 
some because of their unbelief. He stands at the door and 
knocks, but man must unbolt the door. Perfect expression of 
the divine, either in the individual or in the collective Christian 
character, in any period or in any land, is seldom or never 
found. Too often the historic aspects of Christianity have been 
regarded as results of purely natural processes, similar to those 
that produce national character and types of civilization. The 
Spirit of God seems to be the forgotten factor. In our own 
time, when the scientific spirit is peering into the mysteries of 
the unseen as never before, trying to find natural explanations 
of all phenomena in human experience and in human activity, 
we do well to refresh our souls with the divine assurance that 
God is with us still ; working as truly in and through his people 
to-day as he did nearly nineteen hundred years ago. 

If we rightly interpret the teachings of the New Testament, 
we should regard the Holy Spirit as the immanent administrative 
energy of the Godhead in the affairs of the kingdom of God on 
earth. 

The Divine Spirit is not to be conceived of as a blind, im- 
personal influence, but as a definite, intelligent personality, whose 



158 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

functions are not only those of conviction of sin, and the illu- 
mination, inspiration, regeneration, and sanctification of indi- 
viduals, but also the immediate direction and disposition and 
development of the collective forces of the kingdom, according 
to the definite purposes of God. This is a colossal work of in- 
finite detail. In support of this view, note the anointing of 
Jesus himself by the Holy Spirit at his baptism, and how imme- 
diately thereafter " the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness " 
for a supreme test; how he returned "in the power of the 
Spirit " to Galilee ; how, on the day of Pentecost the Spirit came 
upon the disciples with transforming power, enabling them to 
speak in tongues to the polyglot multitude, directing them to 
baptize converts; prompted Philip to preach Christ to and to 
baptize the eunuch ; caused Cornelius to send for Peter, who was 
bidden to respond to the call; forbade Paul and Timothy to go 
into Asia and Bithynia as they had proposed; enjoined Paul, 
through the disciples at Tyre, not to set foot in Jerusalem; 
directed the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch to 
" separate Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have 
called them," and sent them forth to Seleucia; brake down the 
barriers between the Jewish and Gentile Christians by the 
decision of the council at Jerusalem; designated certain men 
as^ overseers of the church at Ephesus ; bestowed various gifts, as 
enumerated in our text and elsewhere, upon the master builders 
of the new spiritual temple; and gave to the seven churches 
of Asia those messages of universal import, with the sevenfold 
admonition, " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith to the churches." To this administrative Spirit are specifi- 
cally ascribed *' diversities of gifts," " diversities of workings " ; 
** all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each 
one severally as he will." This word *' worketh " is energia, from 
which comes our word ** energy," so that we may say, there 
are diversities of energizing ; " All these are energies of the 
Spirit." The disciples at Pentecost were endued with power 
{dunamis). Energy is power in vigorous action. They were 
not insulated spiritual batteries, but working dynamos of spiritual 
energies in the new dispensation of the Spirit. 

Of the reality of such a power we may not doubt. All about 
us are unseen realities — invisible forces of gravitation, magnetism, 
electricity, the all-pervading ether, the atmosphere now still and 
now tempestuous ; within us, mind which is not a passing product 



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DOCTOR MOREHOUSE IN 1907 



PREACHER AND POET 1 59 

of molecular motion in the cells and fibers of the brain, but the 
expression of an unseen soul whose impact upon other unseen 
souls is felt as these words are uttered. John Fiske truly says : 
" Our capacity of conception is not coextensive with the possi- 
bilities of existence; . . in all probability there is an immense 
region of existence in every way as real as the region we know." 
(" Unseen World," p. 48.) From probability we proceed to posi- 
tive affirmation supported by revelation and by our spiritual ex- 
periences, that there is such a realm so intensely real that, like 
Moses, we may live " as seeing him who is invisible." Invisible 
wireless transmission of energy is also strikingly suggestive of 
transmission of spiritual energy from the Divine Spirit to re- 
ceptive human spirits. 

There were supernatural manifestations at the advent of the 
Spirit as there had been at the advent of Christ. In the apos- 
tolic period also there were miraculous workings by the Spirit, 
as there had been by Jesus himself, in attestation of a super- 
natural Presence and Power. There were diversities of ener- 
gizing; some having evangelistic gifts; others, gifts of teaching; 
others, gifts of government or administration. God's work 
needs instrumentalities of different types, temperaments, tastes, 
talents, training, and endowments for the various tasks to be 
done ; and new modes of organized activity may be expected with 
the ongoing of the kingdom in an ongoing world. 

The whole constructive program of the kingdom appears to 
have been wrought out by the administrative Spirit. Jesus 
himself organized no church, enacted for it no statutory require- 
ments concerning its officers and methods, such, for instance, as 
marked the old dispensation when Moses was commanded to 
" make all things according to the pattern showed him in the 
mount." Jesus instituted two permanent symbolic ordinances, 
baptism and the memorial Supper. The form of church organ- 
ization and its functions and the unfolding of the contents of 
Christian faith were wrought out afterward under the Spirit's 
direction or guidance. The teachings of the Spirit were not at 
variance with, but supplemental to, those of Jesus himself. 
Through Paul and others he was the Interpreter of what Jesus 
was, what he said, and what he did. Nor did the Spirit's activity 
in this administrative realm cease with the apostolic period. It 
has been continuous through the centuries; it is operative in 
original ways to-day as truly and as fully as then. Let us not fall 



l6o HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

into the error of supposing that we are shut up to do precisely 
and only what was done in the beginnings of organized Chris- 
tianity as cradled in Judea. The infinite resourcefulness of the 
administrative energy of the Godhead was neither limited nor 
exhausted then. Fundamental principles abide; modes of work- 
ing change. Truth is eternal; but there are diversities of its 
application. Even our boasted civilization is yet in the making. 
The expansion of governmental functions in our own nation 
within the last fifty years has been remarkable, but the founda- 
tions are the same as at first. Higher living organisms possess 
power to respond to conditions and to develop adaptations. 
Christianity is preeminently a religion of life-power which, as 
Harnack says, " displayed from the beginning the wonderful 
many-sidedness, elasticity, and capacity for development, which 
is a presupposition of its universality." (*' Constitution of the 
Early Ch.," Pref. x.) 

What immediately concerns us on this occasion is, whether 
the body in modern Christendom, with which we are identified, 
had its initial impulse, and is still under the dominant direction 
of the Spirit? Let us consider together: 

THE MAKING AND MISSION OF A DENOMINATION 

The short answer of some to all questions of this sort, is that 
New Testament churches were essentially Baptist, and so had 
a divine origin. Even granting this, it does not appear that a 
clear succession of distinctively Baptist churches was maintained 
through all the centuries. As a matter of fact, the marked be- 
ginnings of the modern Baptist denomination, which has now 
attained large proportions, date back to about 1525 on the con- 
tinent of Europe and in England, though it was not until about 
1641 that there was crystallization of doctrine and practice corre- 
sponding in general to those of the denomination now. The 
first Baptist church in America appeared in 1639. For about two 
hundred and seventy years, therefore, we have been known as 
a distinct body of believers in Christendom. Baptist church in- 
dependency was conspicuous. A people who had suffered much 
from the established order and who had seen great abuses 
of ecclesiastical power, were slow to form organizations among 
themselves lest they might get their necks in another noose. 
But at length they grew together in associations which safe- 



PREACHER AND POET l6l 

guarded sacred interests, and in time developed into the great 
denominational organizations which have become historic. 

Let it not be hastily assumed by any one that all denominational 
divisions in Christendom are due mainly to human perversity or, 
as some would have us believe, to the devil. Several of these 
originated in the protests of eminently godly men against what 
they regarded vital errors in the dominant religious bodies of 
their time. Like bolts from the blue were their burning utter- 
ances. Most of these had no thought of founding separate de- 
nominations, but eventually by the laws of spiritual aflBnities and 
by the force of circumstances they were compelled to do so. 

In the making of our own denomination there was no man 
or group of men "higher up," to lay out the architectural 
or, if you please, the anatomical features of a comprehensive 
organization in accordance with which all details and specifica- 
tions should be exactly followed. There was large margin for 
the divine factor in fashioning the structure. First came local 
Associations, then larger bodies, then our general missionary 
agencies. Each came in the fulness of the times, as it was 
required. There was a divine timing of events in the develop- 
ment step by step, stage by stage, of denominational life and 
power. In our own time we seem to have entered upon another 
stage in such development. What our fathers did in their time 
is not necessarily the inflexible order for us in a very different 
time. This is not saying that their methods were inefficient; 
rather, that for to-day, they are insufficient. 

To-day we are engaged in the effort more closely to articulate 
and unify the numerous organizations of the denomination. 
The conception of a general organization for the United States, 
and even of a Baptist World Alliance is no new thing. As far 
back as 1824, an organization was advocated which should have 
direction of the missionary and educational concerns of the de- 
nomination and which eventually might become so related to 
European Baptists that "Baptists on both sides of the Atlantic 
would be united in a solid phalanx." ("Life of Wayland," also 
Vail on " Mobilization," etc.) " There were reformers before 
the Reformation." In our present endeavor, running over five 
years, we have made progress, but apparently have not reached 
finality. Perhaps we have leaned too much on our own judg- 
ment, and not enough upon the wisdom that cometh from above ; 
and so have been left to tinker at the task until the conceit be 
L 



1 62 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

taken out of us, and we come to a keener recognition of the truth 
that, " unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that 
build it." 

In this making of the denomination have we a clear con- 
ception of the architectural character and of the structural prin- 
ciples of the edifice? What do we want? What is evidently in 
accord with the mind of the Spirit ? We take it for granted that 
for substance of doctrine we are in essential accord, even though 
there be occasionally individual variations and aberrations. Our 
concern is about working methods for greater efficiency and 
larger achievement. We venture to formulate a statement of 
what our aim is, hoping that it may elicit from others something 
more satisfactory: Such a vital union of all our forces as shall 
constitute a harmonious and sym.metrical whole, wherein there 
shall be the largest possible liberty for individual expression and 
initiative, and the exercise by each member thereof of its own 
proper functions, with wise provision for comprehensive ad- 
ministration of affairs in which all are or should be concerned, 
so that all members shall sustain conscious relationship to the 
entire body and the welfare of each shall be the concern of the 
whole; all together being a most effective instrumentality of the 
Spirit of God. 

Were ever}^ existing organization, except the local churches, 
at once blotted out and the making of the denomination in this 
respect begun de novo, the task might be somewhat simplified, 
although probably ninety per cent of these organizations would 
naturally be reproduced. Some of these have become deeply 
rooted in the life and love of the denomination for fift>% seventy- 
five, and even a hundred years, and for much of the time have 
been organically unrelated to other organizations. In the process 
of making, or remaking, there must be readjustments, conces- 
sions; and it jars some of these fearfully in trying to get them 
out of their grooves. In the bounds of the Northern Baptist 
Convention there are, in round numbers, one million t^vo hundred 
and fifty thousand Baptists, eleven thousand churches, five hun- 
dred and sixty local Associations, thirt}'-nine State Conventions, 
ten education societies, fifty-seven institutions of learning; 
twenty-five charitable institutions; three general missionary and 
publication Societies; three Women's Missionary Societies, a 
Baptist Young People's Union, a Brotherhood, a Laymen's Mis- 
sionary Movement, and other minor organizations too numerous 



PREACHER AND POET 163 

to mention. Many are incorporated and autonomous bodies. 
Now, to get all, or most of these, into one harmonious, homo- 
geneous body is no simple task, especially when the sensitive 
spirit of Baptist independence resents suggestion of interfer- 
ence with its prerogatives, and " each individual hair doth stand 
on end like quills upon a fretful porcupine." Probably we have 
about reached the limit of such organizations. The problem 
is what to do with them in the making of a more coherent 
denomination. Principal Fairbairn says: "The Christian idea 
created two novel notions as to man: the value of the unit and 
the unity of race." ("Philosophy of Christianity," p. 544.) We 
have properly emphasized individualism; it is now for us to 
harmonize this with the larger unity of all. 

The primary unit in our denominational organization is the 
local church. There is no other above it. These eleven thousand 
churches constitute the denomination, so far as we are concerned. 
No local Association, no State Convention, no general missionary 
organization, not even the Northern Baptist Convention, is the 
denomination. Two thousand people at our anniversaries, half 
of whom came from the adjacent region, are not the denomina- 
tion; are only about one six-hundredth part of it. But they 
may be said fairly to represent the denomination if every reason- 
able facility has been afforded churches to send messengers to 
these annual convocations. Our general missionary organiza- 
tions, as well as State Conventions and local Associations, have 
been constructed mainly, though not exclusively, on the basis 
of direct representation from the churches. The more direct 
and close the relationship between the supporting churches and 
the bodies which administer their benefactions the better for all 
concerned. Approach by the churches to one organization, 
through the medium of another, is unnatural and unsatisfactory. 
It is a good thing for a church to feel that It sustains direct 
relationship to denominational agencies engaged in great under- 
takings. The democratic principle is the outstanding struc- 
tural characteristic In our organized activities. This is well 
stated in the formal declaration by the Executive Committee of 
the Northern Baptist Convention, as follows : 

" The local church Is the unit of representation in the Northern 
Baptist Convention, and it is the fundamental idea of the Con- 
vention that fullest democracy shall prevail in all its proceed- 
ings." ("An. Rep.," 1909, p. 55-) 



164 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Our problem, however, becomes more complex when we under- 
take to relate the many organizations of the churches to each 
other, and to a comprehensive all-embracing whole. Time- 
honored bodies with large fiduciary responsibilities cannot be 
moved about like pawns on a chessboard. While priority of or- 
ganization does not carry with it primacy in the household of 
faith, it does at least entitle the elder member to respect. What- 
ever is done, must be on the democratic basis of equitable con- 
sideration, if not absolute equality, of all the component members. 
As a denomination we have no ecclesiastical earthly head. We 
shy at the shadow of such headship. The Jews of old wanted 
a king like the other nations, and God, in his displeasure, let them 
have enough of it. One of our leaders, sixty years ago, said 
that, "union of action without centralization of power, is the 
great problem which the Baptists of this country are called to 
face practically." (Spencer H. Cone; see "Facts for Bap. Chs.," 
p. 232.) 

This can be done under the Spirit's guidance, if the general 
relationships between the many members of the one body are 
established as set forth in Paul's Epistles, the Corinthians and 
Ephesians. Grant, if you please, that this applied primarily to 
the local church; nevertheless is it not also a law of wider 
application, even to the conditions confronting us to-day? Hear 
it: "All the body fitly framed and knit together through that 
which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due 
measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body 
unto the building up of itself in love" (Eph. 4 : 16). Is not that 
the law of life and love, whether in a church, a society, or a 
whole denomination? 

Is not our problem, " How to get all these members properly 
jointed together"? In the human body there are about thirteen 
major and fifty minor joints, saying nothing of the vertebral 
column, which is not so rigid as sometimes supposed. What 
do the joints supply? Lubricants for adjacent bones and liga- 
ments to hold them In proper place. But all joints are not alike. 
Some allow very limited liberty of action In one direction; 
others, like the ball-and-socket joint, wide range. In the making 
of a denominational body any attempt to have but one jointing 
method for all members would be carrying unification to an ab- 
surdity. Moreover, not all members are immediately related to 
the body. These independent fingers are combined in the hand, 



PREACHER AND POET 165 

and all are indirectly related to the body by intervening members 
and processes, suggesting that not all members of a denomination 
can be on equality in all things. 

The Spirit's administrative injunction is this: "Let all things 
be done unto edification." Let every joint supply its share of 
the lubricant of Christian love; let every member in its own 
due measure of ability contribute to the good of the whole. Let 
no member say : " How much can I get out of it ; or, what is it 
worth to me ? " Rather, " What can I be worth to it, and how 
much can I put into the body for its increase in power?" Of 
course, now and then a member will dislocate itself from its 
immediate relationships; things do sometimes get out of joint. 
There will be occasional eruptions or inflammations of joints 
and members, which sometimes are admonitory expressions of a 
debilitated or disordered condition of the whole system, for 
which the wise diagnostician prescribes, not blisters or amputa- 
tion, but tonics and diet. 

In all our constructive work, room should be provided for 
liberty of individual initiative and the exercise of the voluntary 
principle, which have been conspicuous features of our progress. 
Better let a few visionaries make fools of themselves than re- 
press all personal efforts until they have the sanction of a 
supreme conclave. Often our great missionary organizations, 
which are not merely advisory but preeminently administra- 
tive, must act under the leadings of Providence, quickly and 
energetically, without waiting for the bidding of others or for 
a denominational referendum. Repeatedly in the unfoldings 
of the kingdom of God, the Divine Spirit, through such in- 
itiative and leadership has brought us out into larger realms 
of service. There are divine diversities of operations; and 
there have been sprung upon the world divine surprises as 
in taking Moses and David and Amos from the tending of 
sheep to be rulers and prophets, and the bringing out of despised 
Nazareth the majestic Son of man. 

The constructive work in which we are engaged, as we trust 
under the Spirit's guidance, is a high and holy task. There is 
no place here for the personal schemer or demagogue, for the 
ambitious promoter by sinister methods of some propaganda; 
but only for the things that are open, honest, manly; all motives, 
all aims donated by the administrative energy of God working in 
us mightily for the accomplishment of his will. For, after all. 



1 66 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

the perfecting of our relationships into a closer union, is but a 
means to an end. We are not in the business of making tops 
just for the sport of seeing them spin. The combination of 
forces and the generation of greater power are in order that at a 
given signal the whole body shall instantaneously feel the thrill 
of a lofty purpose and, responsive to the divine summons, leap 
with sublime devotion to its appointed task. It may be that we 
have come to fresh self-discovery in our making and our mis- 
sion, in accordance with a general law which has thus been 
stated : " In the development of an organism, stages are reached 
when a higher principle of life reacts upon the accumulated 
results of the previous processes, thereby lifting the creature to 
a higher plane whence may be unfolded new potentialities." 
(Grist, " Historic Christ," etc., p. 496.) 

Our Mission 

Now, what is the object of all this? In general terms we 
answer: It is for adequate denominational self-expression, and 
for the most effective utilization of our forces in the kingdom of 
God. These are modes of accomplishment of our mission. 
All sentient life of the higher order seeks self-expression; the 
mother-love for the child; love of country in the patriot; 
love of humanity in the philanthropist; the military spirit in the 
warrior; the exalted vision in the philosopher. Creation itself 
is the partial expression of God's power, wisdom, and good- 
ness; and his true character and love could not rest until it 
found self-expression among an estranged race in Him who from 
the beginning was the Word, and who became flesh and dwelt 
among us to reveal the grace and truth of God. 

Adequate self-expression is not always possible. It is so in 
our individual experience. There are feelings which are in- 
articulate. We need a divine interpreter, even "the Spirit him- 
self who maketh intercession for us with groanings which can- 
not be uttered." Collectively, we need a medium for adequate 
self-expression of our convictions, our purposes, our ideals, and 
all that constitutes character and conduct in the kingdom of God. 
Expressions by detached local bodies are partial and inadequate. 
The world heeds them but little. We have been conscious of 
our weakness in this respect. There is needed the emphasis 
and impressiveness of a greater unit, 



PREACHER AND POET 1 67 

Effective self -projection, or utilization of our forces is also 
our ainL A well-disciplined force of a hundred men hurling 
itself as a compact unit will rout a rabble of a thousand. 
Numbers count for but little unless well marshaled to do some- 
thing worth while. So we have our methods of marshaling and 
training the rank and file of this brigade of the church militant — 
our Forward Movement for Missionary Education, our Bap- 
tist Laymen's Missionary Movement, our Baptist Brotherhood, 
our apportionment plans, this Convention itself — all " for the 
perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministering, unto the 
building up of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4 : 12). Unification 
does not exclude specialization; specialization and individuality 
of interests are natural and necessary. Ever}i;hlng cannot be 
reduced to a monotonous dead level. Such specialization of 
interest, each with its own distinct characteristics, is like a 
series of mountain peaks standing out sharply against the blue 
sky, while at the base they all constitute one inseparable granitic 
mountain range. An esprit de corps is already discernible. 
The units are becoming a unity. It is worth the expenditure 
of time and toil to make a body that shall be potent in its 
self-expression and its self -projection for truth and righteous- 
ness. 

Now, as to our mission. We have a distinctive mission. We 
have also a conjoint mission. In some vital matters we differ 
from others. In many things we are in accord with them. We 
stand alone where we must; we work together where we can. 
No denomination has a monopoly of the favor of heaven. 

What was our original distinctive mission? Was it not in 
and for Christendom itself? Was it not preeminently a protest 
against the errors in faith and practice into which Christendom 
in general had fallen, and an attempt to reestablish Christianity 
on a simple, spiritual basis? Our fathers contended for the 
right of private judgment in religious matters against the bitter 
intolerance of their time ; for the authority and sufficiency of the 
Scripture, as against imposed creeds of human councils; for the 
direct communication of divine grace to receptive souls, as 
against all sacerdotalism and sacramentalism ; for the admin- 
istration of baptism according to the teachings of the New 
Testament, both as to mode and subjects; for the simple democ- 
racy of the early church, as against distinctions between clergy' 
and laity and an ecclesiastical ruling body ; for a spiritual church 



l68 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

composed of regenerate souls, and for the separation of Church 
and State as against entrenched State-estabHshed churches. In 
matters of such vital moment to Christianity itself, they be- 
lieved they had a divinely appointed mission, to which they 
addressed themselves heroically, suffering severe persecutions 
both in Europe and America, being the sect everywhere spoken 
against for trying to turn the religious world upside down. They 
were neither fools nor fanatics. Among the leaders were men 
of wide learning and great ability w^hose course was incom- 
prehensible to their self-satisfied and easy-going associates in 
the established bodies of their day. 

To what extent has this mission in and for Christendom 
been accomplished, and is there need still for our testimony and 
our activity? In some things, other bodies formerly arrayed 
against us have come to our way of thinking. But by no means 
all, or even the majority. Many are just where they were two 
hundred and fifty years ago. 

In the matter of separation of Church and State, the leading 
evangelical denominations in this land are generally at one with 
us. But even here, some that were importations from Europe, 
w^hile accepting the fact, only half believe in it, for in European 
countries where they are dominant they hold tenaciously to this 
unholy union. Furthermore, while the first amendment to the 
Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise there- 
of," municipal authorities, State legislatures, and Congress are 
manipulated to appropriate millions of public moneys for sec- 
tarian institutions, and the avowed policy in some quarters is to 
press for more. What care they for a constitutional amend- 
ment so long as at the side door they secure generous appro- 
priations? 

In this respect our mission is not local, but world-wide, as in 
Russia and other countries where our brethren suffer great dis- 
abilities and persecution from the established order. We must 
make the statement of Ambassador Bryce more conspicuously 
true than ever : 

"The lamp kindled by Roger Williams on the banks of the 
Seekonk has spread its light and illuminated the minds of 
Christian men all over the world." (Address at Brown Univ,, 
1904.) 



PREACHER AND POET 169 

As to baptism. We maintain that there is but one scriptural 
mode with its significant symbolism, and that any other is an 
unwarranted perversion and destructive of the intended sym- 
bolism; that it is only for professed beUevers and not for un- 
conscious babes; that it is binding upon all believers in con- 
nection with their union with Christian churches, everywhere 
and for all time. It is not a question of much or little water, 
but of doing the right thing for which we have the weight of 
the world's scholarship in our favor. While millions have 
adopted these views, Christendom in general has not. We have 
a mission still in this respect. And when here and there, even 
in our own ranks, the question is mooted whether, after all, 
baptism is not an outgrown rite which we may discard altogether, 
it behooves us for ourselves and for all Christendom to hark 
back to the divine authority which instituted it. Not only has it 
the authority and the force of the example of Jesus and his 
disciples, but preeminently also of the administrative Spirit of 
God on the day of Pentecost, when the apostles " spake as the 
Spirit gave them utterance," saying to the converted multitude, 
"Be baptized, every one of you" — "every one of you"; and not 
only so, but directed Philip " full of the Spirit," after his won- 
derful mission in Samaria, to baptize " both men and women," as 
also the Ethiopian eunuch ; and through Peter " commanded " 
Cornelius and his household to be baptized; and at Ephesus, in- 
spired Paul to require the rebaptism of John's disciples upon 
whom, when baptized, the Spirit fell with power. Has the 
Holy Spirit become a forgotten factor in the authority for the 
institution of Christian baptism? Let us beware lest in our 
pedantic spirit we expose ourselves to the charge of lack of 
love and loyalty to Jesus Christ, and the belittling of the 
Holy Spirit's supplemental and reaffirmatory teachings concerning 
this impressive ordinance. 

Our contention also has been that infant baptism and the doc- 
trine of baptismal regeneration have no warrant in Scripture. 
While some Pedobaptist bodies do not teach that the baptized 
infant is regenerated, many do, declaring as in the baptismal 
formula of one denomination, that " this child is now regenerate 
and a member of the kingdom of God." 

Between us and the most of the Pedobaptist world there are 
vital differences concerning the character and composition of a 
Christian church. We maintain that it is a spiritual body of 



170 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

believers baptized upon personal confession of Christ. Neither 
Christian parentage nor nurture entitles one to membership 
therein. Godly parentage is no guarantj'- of godly offspring. 
Indeed, the scientific dictum is that there is no transmission by 
heredity of acquired characteristics. Have we no mission still 
in Christendom v^hen in a baptismal formula for infants the 
administrator says, " We yield thee hearty thanks, most merci- 
ful Father, that it hath pleased thee to regenerate this infant 
with thy Holy Spirit, to receive him as thine own child by 
adoption, and to incorporate him into thy holy church," while 
the parents are comforted with the assurance that "this child 
is regenerate and grafted into the body of Christ's church." Or, 
again, when another influential denomination in a recent official 
publication teaches that "infants of believing parents are mem- 
bers of the church and are to be so taught and treated accord- 
ingly"; and that "infants are baptized because they are born 
members of the church; they are not members of the church 
because they are baptized." (" Pres. Board Pub.," 1907.) 

When such teachings prevail, when efforts are made to popu- 
larize the christening of infants, when millions of immigrants 
with their numerous progeny swell the ranks of those who hold 
such errors that have been the tap-root of tares that have in- 
fested Christendom, choking out spirituality and, in many lands, 
largely obliterating the distinction between the church and the 
world, is our mission yet accomplished? Have we intelligent 
convictions on these matters such as actuated Judson and Rice, 
not to mention others, who, under prayerful study of God's 
word, were compelled to cut the tie that bound them to endeared 
religious associations and cast in their lot with us? 

Is there not ample justification for our continued existence 
as a denomination, not for its own sake, but for the sake of a 
sound Christianity? This proposition we hold true: The exis- 
tence of a denomination is justified when it stands for distinctive 
principles vital to the salvation and development of the indi- 
vidual soul and vital to the spiritual life and character of the 
Christian church. As to the obliteration of denominations, we 
hold that those which have no such vital differences and have 
most in common should first get together; and that until this 
is done it is unseemly to throw stones at us as disturbers of 
the unity of Christendom or to exercise the lachrymal glands 
too copiously over our separaten^ss. Let the work of con- 



PREACHER AND POET I7I 

solidation of denominations begin along the lines of least re- 
sistance. 

Meanwhile though formal church unity may be a chimera, 
there may be — indeed, there is — Christian unity between different 
denominations; for these various flocks of the one great fold 
usually live in peace with one another, the fighting, if any, being 
done by a few bellicose rams. Our own mission in and for 
Christendom is to be prosecuted in the spirit of Christian love, 
and it is for us to prove that a sane, self-respecting denom- 
inationalism is not hostile to Christian unity any more than 
pronounced patriotism is incompatible with international clasp- 
ing of hands between republics and monarchies in the interest of 
world-wide righteousness and peace. 

Now, briefly, as to our conjoint mission. This means work 
in common with others for the world's evangelization. Im- 
portant as our distinctive denominational principles are, our 
chief mission is not to make Baptists, but to do our part as a 
great denomination in winning the world for Christ. 

The scope of our mission has greatly broadened in recent 
years. We have taken on new forms of activity, and have 
gathered under our sheltering wings a great brood of objects, 
some of which are as yet hardly out of the shell. There is 
danger of diffusion and dissipation of energy. Wisdom is 
required to distinguish between what is supreme and what is 
secondary. Secondary things, however excellent, should not 
crowd out or become a substitute for things supreme. Chris- 
tianity properly concerns itself with whatever makes for the 
betterment of human conditions; but it should not hastily be- 
come a tail to every passing kite, in the aerial antics of its 
zigzag course. Fraternal social service is an important function 
of Christianity. Christian socialism, properly defined and sanely 
safeguarded, has our hearty support; but is it not true that back 
of much of the social unrest and behind some of its forms of 
organized activity, is the spirit of covetousness to whose demands 
the church of Christ must say wdth its Master, " Man, who made 
me a judge or divider over you?" adding, "Beware of covet- 
ousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the 
things he possesseth " ? On the heels of European socialism treads 
syndicalism, and back of this some see the specters of com- 
munism and anarchy. Christianity must try the spirits before 
yoking up with them. And when it yokes up, it should not b? 



172 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

a yoke of compromise. For our supreme mission is that of our 
Lord, who came to seek and to save that which was lost, and 
to bring men through him into the inheritance of immortality. 
Christianity's paramount work is that of specialization in spiritual 
things. The crowning glory of our denomination hitherto has 
been its strong evangelical attitude and its fervent evangelistic 
spirit; the exaltation of Christ's redemptive work for us, and the 
Spirit's renewing work in us; and on these spiritual things must 
emphasis be laid in the fashioning and in the affairs of this 
Convention. First things first ! 

Our mission fields, both at home and abroad, loudly call for 
more vigorous effort. Everywhere we should project ourselves 
more forcibly against the foes of our Lord. What of the 
situation here? Our home-mission tasks are stupendous and 
most complex. No other Christian nation has anything like them. 
Our very civilization is imperiled by the enormous irruption of 
inferior peoples from eastern Europe, for whom we are doing 
all too little. Are we to experience the curse pronounced against 
the ancient Jew if he became regardless of Jehovah : " The 
sojourner that is in the midst of thee shall mount up above thee 
higher and higher; and thou shalt come down lower and lower; 
. . he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail" (Deut. 

28 : 43) ? 

Is this a Christian nation, with sixty-seven million outside of 
evangelical churches; with an expense annually of $200,000,000 
for criminal prosecutions; with its enormous liquor bills; $200,- 
000,000 also for imported luxuries last year; its great cities, 
seething caldrons of evil, disheartening even to the bravest 
Christian worker ; growing disregard of the Sabbath and lessened 
reverence for sacred things? Is this a Christian nation? Is 
there not here a mighty uncompleted task? How important to 
the world is the evangelization of this nation, let these utterances 
at the great Foreign Mission Conference at Edinburgh indicate: 

" A church too weak in faith and too lukewarm in spirit to fulfil 
its mission at home, is thereby generating serious hindrances to 
the progress of Its work abroad. 

" The worth of Christianity as a missionary force is measured 
by what it has of Christ. An essential part of the task of evan- 
gelizing the world is the lifting of the church at home into 
a fuller life. Larger operations and greater power abroad are 



PREACHER AND POET 173 

impossible unless the life of the church at home is marked by 
greater enlightenment, devotion, and fidelity to its Lord." (" Pro- 
ceedings," Vol. I, 347, 350.) 

" The missionary forces cannot win the non-Christian world 
for Christ until Christian nations and all their influences are 
more thoroughly permeated with the spirit of Christ." (Mott, 
" Decisive Hour," etc., p. 63.) 

We must have a strong home base for world evangelization! 
For this we should double what we are doing now. 

And what of our mission to the non-Christian world? As a 
denomination, in our early history were we not wonderfully 
honored of God in the gift of those two remarkable pioneer mis- 
sionaries to the heathen, Carey in 1791, and Judson in 1812? 
Thrilling was Judson's unexpected message upon his conversion 
to Baptist views: "Alone, in this foreign heathen land, I make 
my appeal to those whom, with their permission, I will call 
my Baptist brethren in the United States." (Wayland's "Life 
of Judson," I, III.) His biographer. Doctor Wayland, says, 
*' It was universally acknowledged that in this matter the provi- 
dence of God has left us no option." ("Life of Judson.") The 
event gave the denomination in its formative period a new ob- 
jective, accentuated its individuality, and contributed to its 
solidarity. 

What of the situation now? Opportunities and demands are 
bewildering. A new China is emerging; industrially, educa- 
tionally, socially, politically, religiously; a revolution so radical 
the world has rarely, if ever, seen. The very stars in their 
courses are fighting for the new order. Peculiarly close are the 
ties between that land and this in which are nine hundred 
Chinese students maintained by our indemnity fund relinquished 
to China, who are drinking in our spirit in preparation for future 
constructive work in the new republic. The Japanese emperor 
contributes to Christian enterprises, and this nation is throbbing 
with a new life. We ought to lay hold quickly on the intellect 
of these countries through strong Christian educational institu- 
tions. On every hand there is the " sound of a going in the tops 
of the mulberry trees," which is a summons to us to bestir 
ourselves for a great forward movement against the weakening 
hosts of heathenism. To quote again from the Edinburgh Con- 
ference, " Suddenly the whole situation abroad has been changed. 



174 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

and almost without warning we find ourselves in a new world 
of incalculable peril and opportunity," which compels us to con- 
sider the whole question of our resources and the possibilities 
of their development. 

Wonderful is the divine energy in creation which set and 
maintains this planet spinning on its axis a thousand miles 
hourly, around the sun one and a half million miles daily, and in 
its third movement with the solar system, over a million miles 
daily into illimitable space! Wonderful, the effusion of solar 
radiance, less than a two-billionth part of which, according to 
Tyndall, falls on our planet. Our God is a great God of bound- 
less spiritual power also, which awaits appropriation by faith. 

Men and brethren: At this time, to be living is sublime. The 
Spirit of God is moving upon the face of the waters, and out 
of chaotic forces and darkness is bringing a new creation, of 
which Christ shall be King. It is for us to have a worthy part 
in the gigantic endeavor. It is high time for us to get out 
of the commonplace, especially out of our commonplace giving, 
doling out a few dollars yearly when without sacrifice it might 
easily be doubled. "O God," cried Henry Martyn, "make me 
an uncommon Christian ! " We need to live on higher levels, 
to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, with a wider, clearer 
vision of things in their relative proportions and their true per- 
spective; aye, to be with him on the Mount of Transfiguration, 
going down thence to the ministry of love, with the sustained 
and indomitable energy of the Divine Spirit. Too long have we 
been languidly at the task; too long marking time or moving 
with painful steps and slow; too long unable to respond to 
Macedonian appeals from many lands ; too long wearing out the 
lives of those charged with grave responsibilities of administra- 
tion, groaning, and chafing over the necessity of scaling down, 
and paring and scrimping to save a few hundred dollars, while 
Christian men living on a liberal scale are adding large amounts 
to their superfluous capital. How long shall these things be? 
How long before we shall arise in our might as a denomination 
and do something really worthy of us, something commensurate 
with the needs of the hour, something that shall truly honor 
Christ; how long before high tides of consecrated giving shall 
lift our stranded enterprises out of the mire and misery; how 
long before millions shall be joyfully laid on the altar for a 
world's evangeUzation? How long, O Lord, how long? 



PREACHER AND POET 175 

For such a day of uprising of God's hosts under the energizing 
of the Holy Spirit, some of us have longed and prayed and hoped 
for a generation. Shall the vision be realized? The cold critics 
of Jesus' day called it " waste," when under the impulse of love 
the forgiven woman broke the alabaster box of precious oint- 
ment and bathed the feet of her Redeemer. But the rays of 
that beautiful deed, as Jesus predicted, have irradiated the cen- 
turies. Have not some of our Christian women costly treasure- 
boxes which they also might bring to crown Christ Lord of all? 
Are there not men who could bring some of the contents of their 
bulging safe-deposit boxes, to help crown him Lord of all? 

God give us an energetic Christianity, a denomination recep- 
tive to the energizing impulses of the Spirit of God; an energetic 
Christianity which shall fulfil the command to " love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, all thy mind, and all thy strength"; 
an energetic Christianity which, like an athlete, girds itself for 
the race set before it; an energetic Christianity that endures 
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ; an energetic Chris- 
tianity that when required heroically flings its treasure and it- 
self into Christ's service, shaming the flabby and simpering 
caricatures of Christ that know notliing of the thrill of heroic 
endeavor; an energetic Christianity, of profound and positive 
convictions concerning man's lost condition and the sole way 
of redemption through the atoning work of Christ ; a virile Chris- 
tianity that will not be dismayed by difficulties, nor in crises 
waver or beat a retreat, but holds on in faith and hope of 
final victory. Nelson, at the battle of Copenhagen, when told 
that his superior officer had signaled him to withdraw from 
further action, putting his field-glass to his blind eye, said, " I 
don't see it " ; and then turning, shouted out the order, " Nail 
the signal for close action to the mast ! " and went in and won 
the day. If our denominational units come together in action as 
one fleet, under God, what is not possible for us? "Nail the 
signal for close action to the mast ! " 

" Our fathers to their graves have gone, 
Their strife is past, their triumph won ; 
But sterner trials wait the- race 
That rises in their honored place, 
A moral warfare with the crime 
And folly of an evil time. 



176 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

" So let it be ! In God's own might 
We gird us for the coming fight, 
And, strong in him whose cause is ours 
In conflict with unholy powers, 
We grasp the weapons he has given, 
The Light and Truth and Love of heaven.'* 

Before the disciples were empowered at Pentecost, for many 
days they waited upon the Lord for a clearer vision of him and 
of their mission, and for the manifestation of the promised 
Spirit. When Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian artist, was 
engaged to paint that masterpiece, the "Last Supper," in the 
church at Milan, he sat silent for days before his new task, 
without touching a brush, lost in deep reflection, awaiting the 
moment when the countenance of Christ should be revealed 
to him in the aspect in which he wished to reproduce it to the 
world. (''Life of Angelo," I, 243.) In our convocations we 
do well to pause at times in prayer for a clearer vision of our 
Lord, of our mission, and for a fresh anointing of his Spirit. 
For without these our work is weak. God grant that we may 
be " strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner 
man " ; that with all saints we " may know what is the exceed- 
ing greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according 
to that energizing of the strength of his might which he wrought 
in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to 
sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, 
and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is 
named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come : 
and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him 
to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the 
fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. i : 19-23). 

Benediction 

" Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above 
all that we ask or think, according to the power that energizeth 
in us, unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, 
unto all generations, for ever and ever. Amen." 

The head of the department of Belles-lettres in one of 
our great universities has defined poetry as " remembered 



PREACHER AND POET 1/7 

emotion." Within this wide-stretching boundary must 
be placed some composition which we usually catalogue as 
prose, and not a little rhyme must be excluded. Judged 
by this standard, Doctor Morehouse was a poet. Much 
of the appeal of his public addresses was due to the " re- 
membered emotion " with which they were surcharged, 
and his poems were almost always the expression of 
deep feeling. 

To say that he was a poet is not to assign to him a 
specific rank. Some of his friends thought that he 
touched greatness in his poetic compositions ; others have 
expressed the wish that he had not attempted this form 
of expression. The just estimate probably lies between 
these two extremes. He wrote nothing that entitles him 
to a place with Browning or Tennyson; he wrote many 
poems which express worthy sentiment in pleasing form. 
His enjoyment of this form_ of literary expression is be- 
yond question. 

Like most musicians he had a true sense of rhythm. 
When deeply moved, as by the need of Mexico, he found 
intense satisfaction in setting forth his feelings in metrical 
form. Among his notes was found a list of the poems 
which he had written, numbering twenty-four. It is 
certain that this list is incomplete. 

It seems probable that " Led About," written in 1886, 
grew out of the trying experiences through which he 
passed at the time when the Home Mission Society lost 
heavily of its invested funds. While Doctor Morehouse 
could not justly be held responsible for this loss, the fact 
that he was the chief executive officer at the time when 
this alienation of funds took place subjected him to not a 
little criticism. That much of this criticism grew out of 
personal feeling and was unjust, made it all the harder 
to bear patiently. 

M 



lyS HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Led About 
"He led the people about" (Exod. 13 : 18). 

Here I wander, while I wonder, 
What the Lord's ways mean for me; 

Forward, backward, thither, hither, 
Mighty maze of mystery. 

Round and round upon my circuit, 

Painful progress, if at all; 
Travel-wearied, weather-beaten. 

Lord, my faith, my strength is small. 

Marching now to martial music, 

Mourning over sore defeat, 
Numb, but " dumb because thou didst it," 

Fall I, fainting at thy feet. 

Upward to the heights Elysian, 
Down to depths all dark and drear, 

Vivid contrasts vex my vision. 
Pain, perplex, and fill with fear. 

Thus of old " thy flock thou leddest " ; 

Murmured they, as murmur we; 
Hush, my heart! The shepherd's secret 

May be half revealed to thee. 

Led about — ^through storm and sunshine, 
Elim's palms and scorching sand — 

Thus he chastens, cleanses, fits us, 
Brings us to the Promised Land. 

December, 1886. 

The song which he sung at threescore years and ten 
came from his heart and deeply touched the hearts of 
others. It breathes deep piety without " piosity," and is 



PREACHER AND POET 1 79 

buoyant, even triumphant. Not a few would give it 
first place among his poetic compositions. 

My Song at Seventy 

I sing a song at seventy years, 

O'erflowing with thanksgiving; 
My soul its Ebenezer rears, 

For Hfe is worth the living — 
A joyful heart, my fellow men, 
Beats on at threescore years and ten. 

The transient blossoms of the spring 

Have now their golden fruitage; 
The tree, whose boughs the tempests fling, 

Has deep and firmer rootage — 
A ripened joy, my fellow men, 
Abides at threescore years and ten. 

The heat and stress of summertime 

Give place to life more sober, 
With clearer skies and views sublime, 

In cool and bright October — 
Autumnal cheer, my fellow men. 
Is here, at threescore years and ten. 

By wear and waste, through wise design, 

The granite gets its luster; 
And pruning of the fruitful vine 

Brings grapes in richer cluster — 
The gain of loss, O murmuring men, 
Appears at threescore years and ten. 

These years have widened human thought; 

Brought large emancipation; 
So wondrously our God hath wrought 

Earth seems a new creation — 
High privilege, my fellow men, 
To live these threescore years and ten. 



l8o HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

With hope triumphant over fear, 
And faith's prevision stronger, 

And love sincere, I tarry here 
To toil a little longer — 

In Christian service, fellow men, 

There's joy at threescore years and ten. 

And while at work, I watch and wait. 
Like pilgrim at the portal, 

For gracious entrance, soon or late, 
Into the life immortal. 

Unspeakable — O mortal men — 

The joy and glory, there and then. 

October 2, 1904. 



IX 

SUNSET 

ON every day the night must fall. No human power 
can stay the sun in its course or prevent the ulti- 
mate decay of physical powers. Doctor Morehouse's 
day was long, but for him — as for all of us — ^the sunset 
was inevitable. He shared in our natural love of life. 
Because he was so strong, so vital, this love, in him, 
reached large proportions. He was intensely alive and 
busied with important tasks. The vigorous and fertile 
mind retained its full measure of power, although the 
body grew increasingly unresponsive to its tenant's bid- 
ding. The soul saw the world need and answered to it, 
but the splendid agent through which it had for so long 
a time accomplished such high tasks could no longer 
answer to the demands made upon it. Not infrequently, 
during the later years of Doctor Morehouse's life, those 
closest to him felt that his work was done, only to be as- 
tonished by a new victory won by that imperial will 
which, for so long a time, had sustained and pushed him 
on. Few of those who knew his condition at Des Moines 
in May, 191 2, dreamed that he would go on for five years 
longer discharging the many duties of his office. 

It cannot be doubted that these were trying years for 
Doctor Morehouse. He had been so strong, so compe- 
tent, that the experience of any measure of dependency 
was especially irksome. As his friend, Doctor Divine, 
has said : " He was almost impatient of need of help. 
He did not like to feel that he was taking the time or the 
strength of another." But that which it was difficult to 

181 



l82 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

endure he bore with increasing- graciousness of spirit. 
No one could fail to recognize his growth in gentleness 
as the afternoon of his life drew toward evening. Some- 
thing of the former masterfulness was lost, but the in- 
creased tenderness and consideration for others made 
him more truly master of men than he had been even in 
the fulness of his strength. 

Following the meeting of the Northern Baptist Con- 
vention at Los Angeles in 191 5, Doctor Morehouse gave 
an address at the Pan-American Exposition in San Fran- 
cisco, on the day set apart to Baptists. Those present 
on that occasion will recall the characteristic clearness 
and charm with which he set forth the part which Bap- 
tists have played in the unfolding life of the New World. 
He was not physically strong, but as he proceeded, weak- 
ness seemed to fall away and he was the " master of 
assemblies " as of old. 

In spite of the protests of friends, he insisted upon at- 
tending the 1916 session of the Northern Baptist Con- 
vention, held in Minneapolis. His condition had been 
such as to excite the gravest apprehension on the part 
of his friends, and that he shared this apprehension is 
evident from the request which he made at about this 
time as to the conduct of his funeral services. He asked 
that these should be held from the house where he had 
lived, in Brooklyn, that those invited should be his office 
associates and their families, members of the Board, and 
a few from the church of which he was a member. " No 
public exhibition of my body, no flowers, no eulogy," he 
said. 

The only part taken by him in the proceedings at Min- 
neapolis was when the great audience detected his pres- 
ence in the gallery and called him out. Deeply inter- 
ested, as always, in the work of the denomination, it was 



SUNSET 183 

no longer his privilege to lead the hosts of God. The 
figure which for nearly forty years had been conspicu- 
ous at the annual gatherings of our people, was seen for 
the last time in our pubHc assemblies. The voice which 
had rung out in behalf of every good cause, now came 
tremblingly from the gallery of the great auditorium in 
what proved to be his farewell words. 

It was by the order of his physician that Doctor 
Morehouse went to St. Petersburg, Florida, early in 
February, 1917. Arrangements were made by friends 
with Dr. R. D. Phillips, of Yonkers, N. Y., to attend 
him professionally, and as companion and nurse. Rev. 
Henry H. Thomas was secured. It was most gratifying 
to Doctor Morehouse to discover in his companion a for- 
mer acquaintance, one whom he had once appointed as 
head of the theological department of Benedict Seminary, 
Columbia, S. C. In writing of these days of intimacy, 
Mr. Thomas says : 

His power of condensation was simply wonderful. In a 
few, short, clear sentences he would answer the most difficult 
letters. He carried the Home Mission Society on his heart and 
in his head. In dictating for me to write he never changed a 
sentence. 

His mind was clear except for a single day some two 
weeks before his death. While he was able to walk to 
the pier and to take trolley and steamboat rides, he did 
not regain any large measure of his former strength. 

During these days at St. Petersburg the fiftieth anni- 
versary of the founding of Morehouse College was cele- 
brated. Doctor Morehouse could not be present, but 
sent a message which, so far as can be determined, con- 
stituted his last " state paper." As such it has peculiar 
interest. It is dated February 20, 191 7. 



184 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

The American Baptist Home Mission Society in the eighty- 
fifth year of its history extends to one of its children, Morehouse 
College, its greetings and congratulations upon the attainment 
of fifty years of its history. It congratulates the President and 
his associates upon the excellent program provided for the occa- 
sion, and expresses its high appreciation also of the presence 
of so many distinguished men at the celebration of this anni- 
versary. I deeply regret my own inability to attend, as I had 
hoped to do. For about thirty-eight years I have been closely 
identified with the work of the institution and have personally 
known all of its presidents and many of its instructors, and 
have been identified with its administration as a member of 
its board of trustees. I rejoice greatly in the prosperity which 
has attended the institution and the bright prospects with its 
additional equipment for its growing work. 

The expenditure by the Society for the maintenance of this 
institution, directly and indirectly, has amounted to nearly or 
quite a half million dollars. The question naturally arises 
whether such an expenditure is warranted by the results achieved. 
Fifty years in the history of an institution like this is too short a 
period in which to prove the value of its work, but already we 
have abundant evidences of the great service it has rendered 
to the negro race. 

The institution is of great value to the student who pursues 
the prescribed courses of study therein. He comes under the 
influence of able teachers ; he is stimulated by contact with other 
aspiring students ; he is disciplined to accomplish specific tasks 
within a given time; he is trained in the art of exact thinking 
and correct expression; his conceit is taken out of him; Chris- 
tian influences are thrown about him; his character and conduct 
are greatly improved; and there are opened to him new realms 
of thought and activity. The school is a mill into which stu- 
dents are thrown as grain into the hopper for the grinding of 
a grist that shall improve the world. Or it may be likened to 
the w^ork of a lapidary in the polishing of precious stones. Not 
all grists are of the same quality, nor all stones of the same 
;jster. We cannot make good flour out of poor grain, nor 
diamonds out of ordinary pebbles. But a few brilliants are of 
inestimable value. 

The institution also affords an opportunity for the develop- 
ment of scholarly ability and administrative talent on the part 



SUNSET 185 

of colored teachers connected with its work. This institution 
particularly shows the capabilities of cultured negroes in posi- 
tions of great influence. Men of this type are of great honor 
to their race. It is worth much in the development of a race 
to have such an opportunity as is here afforded for the pro- 
duction of cultured leadership. I count it an honor to have 
my name connected with an institution of this character which is 
so ably conducted by representatives of the race for whom it 
was founded. 

The institution is of great value also in the educational world 
in sending forth qualified teachers for common schools and 
higher institutions. Many of its students have taken important 
positions in educational work, and in a measure have reproduced 
the spirit and methods of this institution. The provision by the 
Southern States for the education of competent colored teachers 
is very inadequate, and there is still special need of institutions 
like this for the higher work which is not given in State insti- 
tutions. 

The supreme value of the institution is in the development 
of Christian character and the preparation for Christian service. 
The admirable history of Morehouse College prepared by Dean 
Brawley illustrates the wide-reaching influence of this, as well 
as of other institutions, in the religious activities of the colored 
people. A striking illustration of this occurred at the meeting of 
the National Baptist Convention in Philadelphia in 1915, when, 
after an address by myself, a delegate asked all who had been 
benefited by the schools of the Home Mission Society to arise, 
whereupon about nine hundred of the thousand delegates present 
arose to their feet. They were the leaders of their people from 
all parts of the country. Offshoots from these institutions have 
sprung up all over the South. Indeed, the great institution at 
Tuskegee was indebted to Wayland Seminary, of Washington, 
D. C, where Booker Washington spent a year under the keen 
discipline of Dr. G. M. P. King, to whom he frequently 
expressed his gratitude for the training received at his hands. It 
may be properly stated in this connection that the Northern 
States which have contributed so liberally for the education of 
the colored people are now reaping some of the harvest of 
their sowing, as many former students in our schools have be- 
come pastors of strong negro Baptist churches in the North, to 
which many thousands of Southern negroes are migrating. 



1 86 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

This institution, like others, is also cultivating the spirit of 
loyalty to American institutions. As I write these lines my eye 
falls on a paragraph in the daily paper concerning the raising 
of the American flag on a negro schoolhouse on Washington's 
birthday. The loyalty of the negro in offering his services for 
the country has been abundantly proved. With the white man 
he sings heartily, "My country, 'tis of thee," and with his in- 
creasing intelligence and his progress in the upward struggle 
he is to become more and more a factor in shaping our American 
civilization. The record of many students of these institutions 
as leaders in moral reforms has been most gratifying. The 
talented and trained tenth man must lead the rest in these 
matters. 

I cannot undertake fully to estimate the values in many ways 
of such an institution as this. Doubtless others will ably dis- 
cuss various aspects of the subject in their addresses on this 
occasion. Suffice it to say that, in my judgment, the expendi- 
tures that have been made here are fully justified by results, 
and the record of the past is but a prophecy of better and larger 
things in the future, for fifty years in the life of such an 
institution cannot give adequate proof of its capabilities and 
possibilities. The coming fifty years will undoubtedly bring 
a larger and richer harvest than in the first fifty years. May 
God's blessing richly rest upon the institution in the days to 
come. 

After three months at St. Petersburg, he returned 
home, visited his office, where he expressed himself as 
anxious to get at work again, and the next day " God 
touched him with his finger, and he slept." 

Doctor Divine, who sustained most intimate relations 
with Doctor Morehouse, says : 

He was impatient to get back to the routine and the prob- 
lems, and often expressed the slumbering hope that his official 
life might parallel that of Moses — forty years. Sometimes he 
was inclined to be melancholy concerning himself and his ser- 
vice. In periods of great nervous suffering, out of which he 
feared he might not come, he would review his life and minis- 
try with regret that it had been so fully given to doing things, no 



SUNSET 187 

matter how big and important, instead of having been more 
devoted to a spiritual ministry. In his later months his desire 
to emphasize the great, fundamental, Scripture doctrines grew 
upon him, and he seemed distressed that many men were giving 
themselves to matters less important. 

His reverence for the Bible and his simple but absolute 
faith in the providence of God in the minutest things of 
daily life, are emphasized by Mr. Thomas. 

The funeral services were conducted, as far as v^^as 
possible, in accordance with his request. Doctors Wal- 
lace Buttrick, W. A. Granger, Curtis Lee Laws, and 
R. S. MacArthur participated in the service. His pastor. 
Dr. George Caleb Moor, spoke of Doctor Morehouse as 
a member of the church, and Dr. Charles L. White re- 
viewed this remarkable life in its wider relations. Doctor 
White spoke substantially as follows : 

"The stream is calmest where it nears the tide, 
And flowers are sweetest at the eventide, 
And birds most musical at the close of day, 
And saints divinest when they pass away." 

The river of Doctor Morehouse's life has at last reached the 
sea on which no darkness can ever fall. Its source was far up 
in the hills in God's out-of-doors, and as the volume of the 
stream grew its broad and deep waters brought refreshment 
to numerous lives and generated power for many noble enter- 
prises in the extension of the kingdom of God. When in his 
youth he was baptized into the fellowship of a little rural church, 
how little did his pastor and those who witnessed the im- 
pressive ordinance realize that the boy would become a prince 
in Israel. His home was in the country, and the labor on the 
farm made him strong and forever to regard honest toil and 
a day's work as sacred gifts from God. Fortunate in his 
Christian home and in the spiritual guides of his early life, 
he heard the call to the ministry while plowing in the field and 
dedicated himself to the service of God. 



1 88 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

When his college days were ended he manfully cared for 
the farm and helped bear the burdens of the family in a way 
that tested the mettle of his soul. When provision had been 
made for the welfare of those suddenly bereft of father and 
husband, he turned away to the studies of the seminary. After 
these were completed he chose not a city church whose committee 
urged him to accept, but went to the frontier for missionary 
work in Saginaw. Through this city, with stumps still standing 
in the streets, he passed as the devoted pastor and gifted 
preacher. With a zeal to plant the gospel where others had not 
preached he sought out neglected places, and the country that 
he traversed soon became dotted with Baptist churches. Having 
amply succeeded in his first pastorate, he was called to a grow- 
ing church in Rochester, and later to the corresponding secre- 
taryship of the Society which he served for thirty-eight years. 

In the early days of his labors he alternated between the 
office and the field, and later made an exhaustive study of every 
part of the mission field, west, east, north, and south, including 
Porto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico. He knew races as well as many 
men know individuals. Nationalities were his friends. He was 
as familiar with States as most men are with neighborhoods; 
counties were as well known to him as f^ontyards are to many 
householders. He pioneered in the Indian country, mastered the 
racial problem of the South, and sincere and intimate spiritual 
fellowship grew to a rich fruitage wherever he passed. 

With his intimate knowledge of conditions, far and near, he 
could turn his telescope on any hamlet, however far away, by 
the Caribbean Sea, or on the shores of Porto Rico, or in 
the canyons of the West, or on the mountainsides, or in the 
remotest village in the wilderness, and determine the missionary 
opportunity as accurately as most men could see it by visiting 
the place ; and on his desk he studied microscopically the details 
of mission work until he becamie a master of methods as well 
as a master of men. 

God gave him a strong and comely body, a brave heart, the 
power of extraordinary initiative, a mind full of wisdom, and 
a soul bursting with goodness. Loyal to his friends for whose 
frailties he had the charity that thinketh no evil and for whose 
virtues a fine appreciation, he drew to him with cords of steel 
all who were privileged to have their Christian service bound up 
with his in the bundle of life. 









V ■ ::^.: :^^%*^ 




pi 




t 



SUNSET 189 

He had the zeal of an apostle, the intuitions of a prophet, the 
wisdom of a statesman, and the courtesy of a Christian gentle- 
man. Hie rendered an invaluable service not only in home mis- 
sions, but in education and in many other departments of the 
Society's evolving life since the early vision of duty crystallized 
his convictions to do and to die in the work of his Master. The 
ambition of his life was to light the lamp of his Lord in as many 
places as possible. 

It was my good fortune in the intimate association of nine 
years of fellowship to spend often at the close of the day or 
at the end of the week many happy hours, which I shall ever 
treasure. In these he was often reminiscent and spoke of the 
past. Then he would turn to the present with its perplexities, 
and later he would speak of the future and outline to me his 
hopes for the Society and ways in which, under the blessing 
of God, it would be able to do its part in solving the national 
and international problems of the decades to come. Once he 
said to me when a call came to enlarge an appropriation for a 
little church on the mountainside, and at a time when the re- 
sources of our Society were taxed to their utmost, "We must 
in some way find the money to do it, for we cannot have this 
little light go out." This was what he was always doing, and 
throughout the nation the candle of the Lord is burning at 
many a fireside and the light of God is shining out from a 
great number of places because he loved his Saviour and served 
his generation, according to the will of God. Emerson must 
have had some such great soul in mind when he said that an 
institution was the lengthened shadow of a man. How true this 
is of our dear friend, who has entered into that other room in 
his Father's house. Doctor Morehouse built himself into the 
life of the great Society to which his heart was wedded imtil 
the breadth and height of its varied work have become synony- 
mous with his own name and influence. 

It was most fitting that he who had been born and 
reared in the open places, should find his grave in the 
quiet of a country burial-ground. Back to East Avon, 
the home of his boyhood and young manhood, the body 
was borne, and simple services were held in the church 
home where he had worshiped seventy years before. 



190 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Then Dr. J. W. A. Stewart spoke tenderly appreciative 
words which he has kindly enabled us to reproduce : 

I attend this service to-day as representing the Rochester 
Theological Seminary. Our President, Dr. Clarence A. Barbour, 
very much regrets that he is unable to be here, this being the 
anniversary week of the Seminary. To me it is a privilege and 
an honor to be present and to speak a few words regarding 
Doctor Morehouse. 

He was graduated from the Seminary in the Class of 1864. 
After his graduation he was pastor in East Saginaw, Michigan, 
from October, 1864, to January, 1873. It was there that he 
was ordained on December 7, 1864. From East Saginaw he came 
to the Park Avenue Church, in Rochester, and he served as 
pastor of this church from 1873 to 1879. During the last two 
years of this pastorate he also served as Corresponding Secre- 
tary for the New York Baptist Union for Ministerial Educa- 
tion. On leaving Rochester he went to New York as Corre- 
sponding Secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society, and in connection with the Baptist Home Mission So- 
ciety, as we all know, his great life-work was done. 

It is not possible to express in a few words one's appre- 
ciation of the Christian manhood and work and influence of 
Doctor Morehouse. Hte stands out before my mind as a real 
Christian statesman. He had the vision of the statesman, broad 
and keen. Hje was deeply concerned with the facts which he 
saw. He had convictions as to progress and the possibilities of 
what might be. His eye scanned this American nation from 
north to south and from east to west, — every State, every corner 
of it, every section of its people, every phase of its life. He 
tried to see it all from the point of view of Jesus Christ, and his 
burning ambition was to bring to bear upon this nation the 
teaching and the power of Christ. 

Along with all this he had another gift of much importance 
to the real statesman: the gift of utterance, of power to set 
forth what he saw and what he felt, the gift of genuine elo- 
quence. He could rise before a great assembly and stir every 
hearer by his words concerning this nation and its needs, and 
the church's duty in relation thereto. 

We all know well how deeply interested he was in the 
negro, in the immigrant, in the native Indian, in the great city, 



SUNSET 191 

in the rural communit)', in Alaska, in Cuba and Porto Rico, in 
all of our great teeming population. H<e traveled everj-where 
over this land. He seemed big enough to take it all in. He saw 
the need of Christian evangelism, of Christian education, of all 
that is Christian. He educated our denomination ; he was trusted 
by the denomination as a leader as few men are. Gladly we 
listened to his words and responded to his appeals. This is 
what comes to me as I think of Doctor Morehouse. 

I recall one special occasion in connection with our May 
meetings, when an audience of unusual numbers was assembled. 
Doctor Morehouse was the first speaker. It is no exaggera- 
tion to say that for nearly an hour he thrilled that vast audience 
as he discoursed upon the great human facts of our American 
nation, and as he appealed to us to do what in us lies to apply 
Christianity to the life of this land. When he ended it was 
useless for any other, no matter how eloquent or how enter- 
taining, to attempt to get hold of that audience. The attempt 
was made, but all realized how completely it failed. The simple 
fact was that Doctor Morehouse had made it impossible for 
any one to follow him, and we went away, after hearing others, 
with his words ringing in our ears. He was really in some ways 
a very great man, and it will be a long time before he is for- 
gotten. He has left his mark upon his church and his country. 

I am sure that It seems to all of us exceedingly fitting, and 
even beautiful, that his earthly remains should be carried away 
from the great teeming city in the very heart of which so much 
of his life was spent, and should be brought to this quiet spot, 
his earliest home, and here laid in their last resting-place. 

The influence of this present occasion is deeply felt by all of 
us. May it live with us for our good and for our inspiration 
in the service of God and of man. 

In one of his poems Doctor Morehouse wrote : 

My sun is sinking in the west; 
Forgive the past, accept the rest ; 
Give grace and glor>M When I go 
May sunset leave an afterglow. 

This prayer was"^ answered. Seen no longer by our eyes, 
he is cherishe'd in "our hearts. The radiance of his char- 



192 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

acter lingers with us to bless and cheer. He can never 
be forgotten or lose our love so long as those who knew 
his worth have memory and capacity for affection. 

But his going leaves more than an afterglow. What 
he was and what he did have become a part of the process 
by which God is making over the world after his own 
purposes. He was exceptionally useful. In unusual 
measure he had that genius which Beecher has declared 
was the only kind he had ever known — the genius for 
hard work. To him was granted a long life, crowded 
with labor to the end. He touched life at many points, 
and always for human betterment. He was the tireless 
benefactor of the negro, the Indian, the immigrant, the 
indigent minister, and the struggling church. He " built 
his home by the side of the road," and rejoiced to be 
" a friend to man." He lives in our hearts and in the 
increase of power which he brought to the age-long strug- 
gle for a righteous world. 



CHAPTER X 

BEHIND THE CURTAIN 

SELF-EXPRESSION is never complete. No true 
man would, even if he could, expose his naked soul. 
It would be spiritual immodesty. The deepest emotions 
are inarticulate, and our most sacred hours find no 
historian. 

Especially with those of the New England strain, reti- 
cence is in the blood. Our forebears were not given to 
paroxysms either of grief or of joy. They were a self- 
contained race, keeping carefully concealed the inner 
sanctuaries of the heart. They could love as ardently 
and hate as fiercely as men of more passionate expression ; 
but they held it shame to wear their hearts upon their 
sleeves. A true son of his New England ancestors. Doc- 
tor Morehouse was rarely demonstrative. He knew great 
sorrows and great joys ; but he never lifted up his voice 
in lamentations or made a din in his rejoicing. Always 
kind, sympathetic, helpful, he maintained a racial reserve 
concerning that which was going on in the inner cham- 
bers of his soul. In one of the supreme experiences of 
his life he flung his arms about a friend who had tried 
to serve him, but even then there were no fervid protes- 
tations of appreciation. No man could doubt his piety, 
but he never prated about it. He was constitutionally 
conservative in theology, but he never paraded his loy- 
alty to the " old truth." We know that he had a passion 
for helpfulness ; but this knowledge rests not on his ad- 
vertisement of the fact. 

It is with no thought that he was seriously misjudged 
N 193 



194 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

that space is given in this story of his Hfe for some things 
not given to the public while he lived. They will sur- 
prise no one, for they simply serve to confirm the estimate 
formed from his manner of life known to all men. 

Reference has been made elsewhere to his generous 
act in pledging the greater part of the savings of a life- 
time to assure the success of the effort to raise $250,000 
for the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Fund. This 
was no sudden spasm, but quite in keeping with the 
steady, never-failing generosity of the man. His bene- 
factions wQve constant. With characteristic attention to 
detail, he kept careful record of his expenses, including 
his gifts for benevolent objects. Page after page is cov- 
ered with notations of that which he gave to his church, 
to home missions, to foreign missions, and for all kinds 
of special objects. The last record, written so trem- 
blingly as to reveal his serious illness, is dated January 
7, 1917: "Church, $10; Beneficence, $5." In a single 
year he gave to home missions, foreign missions, Old 
People's Home, the Mission Press, India, the Anderson 
Memorial, for Indian students, to Waters Institute, N. C, 
to Rochester Theological Seminary, and the Brooklyn 
Church Extension Society. He never says anything 
about tithing, but the footings each year exceed one 
tenth of his income. 

Reference has been made in a previous chapter to the 
close and tender relationship existing between this son 
and his mother. It was the privilege of the writer to 
spend many delightful days in the companionship of 
Doctor Morehouse and his mother, and their mutual 
devotion was beautiful to behold. The leader of men, 
strong, persistent, sturdy fighter for the truth as he saw 
it, was all gentleness toward the mother whom he loved 
with a great love. In his busy and toil-filled life he was 



BEHIND THE CURTAIN I95 

never forgetful of her welfare or her happiness. In his 

diary he has recorded some of the trips and outings 
which he arranged for her and in many of which he 
shared. 

MEMORANDA CONCERNING MOTHER 

She attended with me the Anniversaries at Saratoga in 1880, 



New York 
Saratoga 

Asbury Park 

Washington 

Boston 



1882, 
1883, 
1885, 
1886, 



1889. 



She visited Washington, I think, three times; spent part of 
■three or four summers at Ocean Grove; spent two or three 
weeks one summer in the Catskills; went with me one summer 
on a tour to Portland, the White Mountains, Lake Champlain, 
Lake George, Saratoga (1887) ; spent part of a summer at At- 
lantic Highlands; went with me one summer, in 1886, to Ezra's 
at- Sterling, Mich., where she stayed about six weeks of my 
absence on Western trip; went with me in May, 18 — to Ezra's 
in Ypsilanti, Mich., where she remained with much benefit to 
her health for about two months; then to Emma Mead's in 
Macedon, N. Y., and thence to Uncle Gilbert's in Dutchess Co. 
where I spent five days with her, after which we returned to 
Brooklyn together. 

A memorandum book shows that she was in Washington in 
January, 1882, when she saw the President, visited Mt. Ver- 
non, etc. 

Not a. little of the charm of his personality was due 
to the persistence of the boy-spirit through all the years 
of his long life. He was dignified, but not too dignified. 
He knew how to unbend. Without his sense of humor, 
his love of innocent fun, he would not have been the 
remarkable man he was. Some of his closest friendships 
were with men who loved a good laugh, and held no 
prejudice against a joke. When the Anniversaries were 



196 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

held in Pittsburgh two of these friends saw Doctor More- 
house sauntering along the street, stepping frequently 
to look in at some store-window. After watching him 
for a time, one of the two called out, " Hey, Rube ! " 
Doctor Morehouse looked all around, but failing to see 
the jokers, resumed his window-gazing. Again the call 
rang out, and this time he detected the culprits. As they 
approached him it was to be greeted with a broad grin 
and a fist shaken in pretended anger. 

A member of the office force tells of an occasion when, 
at the close of the day's work, Doctor Morehouse donned 
a war-dress which had been given him^ by some of his 
Indian friends. Not content with exhibiting this para- 
phernalia, he proceeded to execute a war-dance which, 
however it may have failed to reproduce the genuine 
article, furnished no end of amusement to the spectators. 

Now and then he varied the monotony of office work 
by a trip to Coney Island. On these occasions the digni- 
fied secretary became, for the time being, a robustious 
boy. He tried every form of amusement for which this 
place is famous, from " shooting the chutes " to hurling 
balls at the Ethiopians' heads. It is not at all certain that 
his unusual ability for hard and sustained toil was not 
due to the fact that he never forgot how to play. 

One of his friends, who sometimes writes frivolous 
fish-stories, received a post-card from him on which had 
been pasted a newspaper clipping headed, "The Only 
True Fish Story." The story proved to be the declara- 
tion of Peter, " We have toiled all the night, and have 
taken nothing." 

The committal of himself to Christ, made in his col- 
lege days, was complete and permanent. To do God's 
will was the master passion of his life. It is not easy to 
maintain a wann, spiritual life when engrossed in af- 



BEHIND THE CURTAIN I97 

fairs of administration, but Doctor Morehouse succeeded 
here, where so many have failed. He had a keen sense 
of God, and the notes which follow reveal something 
of the inner life ol this man whose fortune it was to be 
known as the great executive. Under the date of Oc- 
tober 2, 1892, his fifty-eighth birthday, and the twenty- 
eighth anniversary of the beginning of his pastorate at 
East Saginaw, he set down thirty reasons for gratitude 
to God, followed by a supplication and an explanatory 
memorandum : 

I AM THANKFUL TO GOD 

1. That I have been permitted to live fifty-eight years. 

2. That I have enjoyed almost uninterrupted good health. 

3. That my physical and mental powers are still so good. 

4. That I was endowed with a rather cheerful and hopeful 
disposition and inclined to look on the bright side of things. 

5. That I had Christian parents. 

6. That my father was spared to me until after my graduation 
from College. 

7. That my mother was spared to me and that I was per- 
mitted to minister to her comfort until nearly the end of her 
seventy-seventh year. 

8. That I had an education in a Christian Institution where I 
received religious impressions which led, as I trust, to my 
conversion. 

9. That I was permitted to be under the instruction especially 
of Doctor Robinson, also of Doctor Northrup in my seminary 
course. They wonderfully quickened and sharpened my mental 
powers. 

10. That with a small patrimony I was permitted to pursue my 
course in the Seminary without the embarrassments that many 
experience. 

11. That my father provided the means for my academic and 
collegiate education, 

12. That the sum which I received from my father's estate 
enabled me to begin my ministerial work with a small and 
needy church, at a low salary, and enabled me also to help 
largely according to my means in its establishment. 



198 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

13. That I have had no disposition to live ostentatiously or 
extravagantly. 

14. That my first pastorate from Oct. 2, 1864, to Jan. i, 1873, 
was with a church and in a field and under such conditions as to 
tax my resources to the utmost, to bring me into vital sym- 
pathy with struggling mission enterprises, and to understand the 
difficulties to be encountered in building up new interests. I 
believe that the experience of those seven years and three 
months were an invaluable discipline for my subsequent and 
larger work in the Home Mission Society. Though at the time 
there was much that seemed hard, I am thankful for it all. 

15. I am thankful that my first pastorate was in a Western 
State and on a mission field, for it widened the circle of my 
acquaintance and gave me the sympathy and support of Western 
men- as I could not otherwise have had it. 

16. That my second pastorate was in Rochester, N. Y., for 
six and a half years, where I had the needed advantages of that 
refined city and was brought into contact with our great edu- 
cators. 

17. That I was permitted to serve on the board of trustees of 
the theological seminary and for about two years to be corre- 
sponding secretary of the institution in connection with my 
pastorate, for it gave me an understanding of some educa- 
tional matters that have since been of value to me. Moreover, 
it was all unconsciously something of a preparation for my 
subsequent work in the Home Mission Society. 

18. That I have been permitted to be Corresponding Secre- 
tary of the Home Mission Society for more than thirteen years, 
from May, 1879, to the present time; and that on the whole I 
have been able to discharge its duties so much to the satisfaction 
of the Board and the friends of the Society in general. 

19. That I enjoy the confidence of so many eminent men in 
the denomination, and hence that I have so great influence 
with them In denominational matters. It seems almost like a 
dream that I should have been given such a position as this. 

20. That I was given the discernment and wisdom to organize 
the Church Edifice Gift Fund. 

21. That it seemed thrust upon me In the Providence of God 
to take the leading part In the organization of the American 
Baptist Education Society, and that I have lived to see those 
who opposed it, become its hearty supporters, 



BEHIND THE CURTAIN 199 

22. That it was given me to make suggestions in my Rochester 
address of Ala}^, 1892, concerning an educated Baptist ministr}', 
that found instant and emphatic response not only from the 
representatives of that institution, but of otliers throughout 
the country; and that by their wish it became my work to 
frame a plan and to arrange for a conference of seminary 
men on the subject, with the prospect of great benefits to 
follow. 

2S. That I have been permitted to do so much in so many 
ways for the Home Mission Society. 

24. That I have never sought any position or honors of any 
sort, but have been content to do my work where it seemed 
Providence placed me until it seemed clear that the same 
Providence called me to another field of service. It is a 
satisfaction and source of strength to me that I have done no 
scheming for position, and have not trusted to secret society 
influences of any sort for advancement. By the grace of 
God I am what I am, and have been placed in positions wholly 
unsought and often unexpected by myself. For all this I thank 
him — for I have not been worthy of it all. 

25. That the wicked schemes of enemies for my overthrow 
were thwarted and they themselves overwhelmed with mortifica- 
tion at their failure and the disclosure of their spirit and 
methods. To God I committed the matter and he did not leave 
me to confusion. 

26. That even my retirement from the Secretaryship in 1892 
was overruled to bring to me unexpected honor and renewed 
expression of the love of my brethren. There was no manipu- 
lation of matters by myself: God directed it all. To him be 
the praise. 

27. That though I have often been unfaithful to God, his 
faithfulness has been constant to me. I might justly have been 
set aside as an unprofitable servant. 

28. That though I have been disobedient and have not kept 
the vows I made in my better moments to serve him per- 
fectly and to do always the things that please him, yet he has 
not only spared me, but has crowned me with goodness and 
mercy and honor. 

29. That notwithstanding all my shortcomings and my sins, 
he has not abandoned me, nor withdrawn his spirit from me, but 
still permits me to cherish the hope that Jesus Christ is my 



200 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

Saviour, and at times gives me great sorrow that I have not 
been and am not a better and more useful man. 

30. That I am not left without hope, that notwithstanding so 
much that has been unsatisfactory, and wrong in heart and life, 
there may yet be a steadier spirit, a more acceptable life, and a 
better service than I have yet rendered my Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

For innumerable blessings besides these I thank God who 
has caused my lot to fall in pleasant places; whose favor has 
been so great, whose mercy endureth forever. Such goodness 
indeed for these fifty-seven years should lead me to sincere 
repentance of ever>i:hing displeasing to him and should awaken 
such gratitude and love as to lead to a fresh and full con- 
cecration of all my powers to him. 

MY DESIRE AND SUPPLICATION 

1. That I may be permitted to give at least twelve years more 
of the best service of my life to Christ and his cause on earth. 

2. That I may be free from every influence that distracts 
or weakens my purpose or my powers in this service. 

3. That I may make a cheerful surrender of anything that 
may at all interfere with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in 
my soul and with my peace of conscience and my usefulness for 
Christ. 

4. That the love of Christ and his unchanging and abounding 
goodness to me may constrain me at all times to refrain from 
all that might be displeasing to him and to do all that may be 
pleasing in his sight. 

5. That I may consider the sins of the past blotted out by 
the grace of God in Jesus Christ; that they are to be dis- 
missed from my thought and to be forgotten if possible; and 
that my motto may be, " Forgetting the things that are behind 
and stretching forward to the things that are before, I press 
on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God 
in Christ Jesus." 

6. That the closing years of my life may be like the path of 
the just that shineth more and more unto the perfect day— 
a period of cloudless shining of the face of a reconciled Father 
in heaven. 

I sincerely regret that I have not a livelier sense of the 
greatness of God's goodness and mercy to me these many 



BEHIND THE CURTAIN 201 

years; a more godly sorrow for all that has been displeasing or 
unlovely to him; and a more ardent desire and purpose to serve 
him with cheerful and complete self-abandonment. But I trust 
to his grace to work in me of his own good pleasure those dis- 
positions of heart, those purposes of the will, and those exercises 
of my powers that shall most glorify him, fit me best for his ser- 
vice here, and prepare me for fellowship with the Redeemer 
and the redeemed in the world to come. 

MEMORANDUM 

The foregoing I have written at one sitting this Sunday 
afternoon, Oct. 2, 1892. I felt drawn to do it. I never did 
anything like it before. Whether it has any special significance, 
I do not know. It has seemed to me fitting that I should pause 
and review the past, consider what and where I am, and take 
some bearings for the future. So I stayed at home, leaving 
the Sunday School with the assistant superintendent, that I might 
commune wdth my own soul and with God on these things. 
And this memorandum I make to refresh my memory in coming 
days, as I may revert to what I have written and the circum- 
stances under which it was written. 

My prayer — all prayers in one — ^Thy will, O Christ, be done 
in me, upon me, for me, and by me; that I may be what thou 
wouldst have me and do always what is well pleasing in thy 
sight; not from a cold sense of duty, but with a cheerful heart 
full of love to thee. H. L. Morehouse. 

In May of 1893, follow^ing his election as Acting Corre- 
sponding Secretary of the American Baptist Education 
Society, he reconsecrated himself to the service of God : 

Here I raise my Ebenezer 
Hither by thy help I've come, 

And I hope by thy good pleasure 
Safely to arrive at home. 

Oh to grace how great a debtor. 

Daily I'm constrained to be, 
Let thy grace. Lord, like a fetter 

Bind my wandering heart to thee, 



202 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

I have this day new cause for gratitude to God and for re- 
dedication of myself to him. Yesterday's paper announced my 
election by the Education Society as Acting Corresponding 
Secretary; a renewed expression of confidence from an honor- 
able body of Christian men North and South, largely from the 
South, I suppose. This election comes in a way that impresses 
me deeply as the probable ordering of Divine Providence. 

When the Home Mission Society at Cincinnati in 1891 re- 
elected me under peculiar circumstances, I made a new dedica- 
tion of myself to God and to his work. In 1892, when the 
Society elected me Honorary Secretary I was deeply affected 
by the divine goodness and gave myself afresh to his service. 
Indeed, before that meeting I recall the deUghtful season of 
consecration to his service. Last fall, on Sunday, Oct. second, 
my birthday, I found special blessing in recounting the good- 
ness and mercy of God to me all these years and in laying 
myself afresh upon his altar. So, at the beginning of this 
year. 

And now, again, I am constrained as on my birthday to 
make record of the same goodness, in view of this fresh evi- 
dence of his favor. It places me under new obligations to 
devote all my powers unreservedly to his service. And this 
I do solemnly, prayerfully, deliberately. This is my reasonable 
service. 

My days are gliding swiftly by. What my hands find to do I 
must do with my might. To live with a conscience void of 
offence toward God and toward man; to serve the Lord Jesus 
Christ my Redeemer with a pure heart fervently ; to dwell in the 
conscious sunshine of his favor; to seek his guidance and his 
approval in all I do ; this is and shall be my aim, God graciously 
grant to keep me stedfast in heart and purpose to do this. 

And now my great desire is that a bountiful spiritual bless- 
ing may rest upon the coming meetings of the Society at Denver. 
How I longed last winter to see a great spiritual refreshing 
begin there and go forth to bless the whole land. The pro- 
gram is changed, but there is room for the blessing still. And 
now, Lord, if it be thy good pleasure, grant this blessing. Go 
up thither with thy people. Go with me. Give me, if it please 
thee, an anointing from on high that I may be fitted to derive 
the greatest good possible from the meeting and be the greatest 
help possible to the meeting. 



BEHIND THE CURTAIN 203 

O Lord, accept my unworthy service; hear my vow; give me 
yet some work for thee; hear my prayer. For Jesus' sake. 
Amen. 

On his seventieth birthday he poured out his heart in 
thanksgiving, confession, and supplication. In view of 
the many reports, given more or less publicity, as to the 
reason for his remaining single, this record is of special 
interest inasmuch as here the man who knew better than 
any one else why he never married, gives his own expla- 
nation of what a friend has called his *' lonely life " : 

THANKSGIVING 

October 2, 1904 
I. For present blessings : 

That I am spared to this day — 70 years; also 40 years since 
I began my ministry. 

That I am well and strong for service. 

That I am in so congenial, useful, and honorable position of 
service. 

That I enjoy the confidence and love of many. 

That I have a hopeful and courageous spirit. 

That I have been permitted to establish a Christian memorial 
to my father and mother. 

That my intellectual powers are unimpaired. 

That my temporal circumstances give me no anxiety in case I 
shall be laid aside. 

That I am not a castaway in God's service. 

That I have hope in the abounding grace of God. 

For the rainbow this morning. 



II. For past blessings: 

For my devoted Christian parents. 

For my lot as a farmer's boy. 

For my educational advantages. 

For my business experience. 

For my religious associates in college, 



204 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

For my conversion in college. 

For my first missionary pastorate. 

For the positions of influence to which I was called. 

For my Rochester pastorate and connection with the Seminary. 

For the acquaintance it gave me with men. 

For my calling to be Corresponding Secretary of the Home 
Mission Society. 

For my retention as Field Secretary. 

For my return to Corresponding Secretaryship. 

That I have been permitted to give money, about $10,000 to 
various Christian purposes. 

That I have some poetical talent that has been put to good 
service. 

For many brought into the kingdom through my ministry. 

For the various qualifications God has given me. 

For my disposition to work. 

For my power of application. 

For my persistency of purpose. 

For my cheerful temperament. 

For God's restraining grace. 

For God's wonderful forbearance and long-suffering. 

For my contentment to live a single life, that I might labor 
with less loss of time for social and domestic matters. 

For continuous good health, with but two short spells of illness 
in 40 years of public life. 

For my general effectiveness in public address. 

CONFESSION 

I have left undone much that I should have done; and 
have done many things that I should not have done. Cannot 
enumerate sins of commission and omission. 

Have come far short of my ideals. 

Great lack of conformity to the standard of life and service 
in the New Testament. 

In many respects, no disposition to sin: but disposition in 
other things. 

Lack of whole-hearted surrender at all times to the spirit 
of God. 

Ought to be a greater spiritual influence in the position I 
occupy. 



BEHIND THE CURTAIN 205 

Have not exerted the spiritual, uplifting influence on many, 
that I might have done. 

Have not had that lively sense of love to Christ, for his 
saving grace, that I ought to have. 

SUPPLICATION 

For forgiveness through thy atoning work, O Christ. "All 
manner of sin, etc." 

" Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." " Justified 
from all things from which we could not have been justified by 
the law of Moses." Lord, have mercy on me, and enter not 
into judgment with me. For thy rule in every part and every 
power of my life ; that all may honor and glorify thee. 

For thy Spirit's sanctifying power : that I may be dead to all 
enticements to sin and live in righteousness. 

For spiritual exaltation. 

For more ardent love for thee, O Christ. 

For the consciousness of thy presence and thy favor. 

For the assurance and comfort and joy of salvation. 

For more likeness to thee in spirit and in service. 

For absolute surrender to thy will. 

For thy empowering where and when I am weakest. 

For thy girding and guidance in times of trial, temptation, and 
difficulty. 

For the privilege of serving thee a few years longer, where 

am. 

For the joy and glory of immortality tlirough thee, O Christ. 

For the expulsive power of thy love in my life. 

For the rainbow this morning— providence : rainbow about the 
throne— a new life and world. 

DEDICATION 

By thy assisting grace, O my Saviour, I rededicate myself 
to thee. 

All my physical powers, to be kept in good condition solely for 
thy service. 

All my intellectual powers, to be kept in the best condition for 
thy service. 

To this end I will be temperate, avoid undue excitement and 
overtaxation. 



206 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

All my spiritual powers— I desire that God may completely 
occupy this temjple that I may know of the fulness of the bless- 
ing of the Gospel; the peace that passeth understanding, and 
that I may be more effectively used by him. 

All my possessions — whatever I give, to give it for those 
purposes that shall be pleasing to him. 

I dedicate $2,000 now to God, and in memory of my Chris- 
tian father and mother I purpose to dedicate more. 

" Lord, take my life and let it be 
Used to serve and honor thee." 

Among the lessons taught him by experience was the 
value of friendship. This does not mean that in his 
earlier years he was unfriendly or failed to prize the 
friendships which he formed. He was always compan- 
ionable, but he did not always feel the need of the help 
which friends are sometimes able to give. He was ex- 
ceptionally strong, not only in his purposes, but in ability 
to realize them. And he was conscious of his strength. 
This consciousness made him independent of props. He 
had friends, but he did not lean upon them. He was 
ever ready to help others, but he did not crave help from 
others. The day came, however, when he faced diffi- 
culties too great for his unaided strength ; days when the 
aid of friends was God's answer to his prayer for help. 
In the decade 1882-92, Doctor Morehouse saw some of 
the darkest hours of his life, and in those years he learned 
that friendship is reciprocal. This is not an unsupported 
guess of the writer, but Doctor Morehouse's personal 
testimony given to one who knew him intimately. 



XI 

APPRECIATIONS 

WE sometimes hear people complain that they are not 
appreciated. Doctor Morehouse was not a member 
of this ancient order. His soul was not small enough to 
make him eligible. Given a large soul with a wide out- 
look, forgetfulness of self follows as a matter of course. 
Doctor Morehouse loved God and hard work. Because 
he loved God, his passion for toil centered on the inter- 
ests of God's kingdom. He had neither time nor incHna- 
tion for arithmetical calculations as to the proportion ex- 
isting between his service and its recognition by his 
fellow men. Not that he was indifferent to the estimate 
of himself and his work held by his brethren; but this 
was a small matter in comparison with the approval of 
Him whom he served. So, if human praise crowned his 
efforts, he was glad ; if the disapproval of men trod upon 
the heels of his endeavor, he stopped only long enough to 
reassure himself as to God's will, and then kept steadily 
on his way. 

Because he walked with God the praise of men did not 
spoil him. In fellowship with the Unseen he had con- 
stant revelations of the vastness of the enterprise in 
which he was engaged, and of the inadequacy of his best 
efforts. He never overtook his ideals. When his 
brethren told him of the high value of that which he had 
accomplished and of the esteem in which they held him, 
his heart glowed with a gratitude which pushed him on 
to greater effort. If he had been other than he was, the 
constant and glowing expressions of appreciation which 

207 



208 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

flowed in upon him would have bred an unlovely self- 
satisfaction. Few men have received the praise, while 
living, that was given him. His brethren, individually 
and collectively, delighted to do him honor. It is no 
small satisfaction to his friends that they did not with- 
hold their words of approval until his ears were closed 
to human voices. ' No warmer words of appreciation 
were spoken above his still form than had been uttered 
in his living presence. At least a few of the almost 
countless tributes paid to him should have a place in this 
record of his life. 

Although he had enjoined his friends to allow nothing 
about his illness to get into the papers, the early summer 
of 1897 brought to him a multitude of letters. Among 
these, one from Dr. H. C. Mabie reveals something of 
the relations existing between Doctor Morehouse and 
officials of the other general Societies. " Let it be for 
you," says Doctor Mabie, 

a word of most genuine heart love from me, that the past months 
of intimate fellowship in this herculean task have been the 
most precious and satisfactory of my public service; the love 
and confidence have been perfect. 

His " Song at Seventy " called forth a flood of felici- 
tations. Mr. John D. Rockefeller wrote. 

We received your " Song at Seventy," and we hope to receive 
your " Song at Eighty," likewise at Ninety and One Hundred, 
and that the last named will be as good as the first, and improve 
like old wine. 

Mr. F. T. Gates, with whom Doctor Morehouse had 
been so intimately associated, in a letter dated November 
9, 1904, writes : 



APPRECIATIONS 209 

It is a poem, it seems to me, that any living man or poet 
might be proud to be the author of, at seventy or at any age. 
It is a great poem, beautiful and thrilling. 

" It is good poetry and true religion/' wrote President 
Faunce, of Brown University, 

thoroughly in harmony with Robert Browning's " Ben Ezra." 
I congratulate you on attaining your seventieth birthday with 
such a host of friends, such a bright outlook, and such a noble 
record behind you. 

A thoroughly characteristic letter was that from the 
genial and versatile Dr. Zelotes Grenell : 

I picture you as standing before the congregated Baptists of 
America, music in hand, face aglow, pouring out the melodious 
words while the people say, " Seventy? He doesn't look it." 
Then I fancy myself rising in behalf of the assembled multi- 
tudes, making a response something like the following : 

Hurrah for you ! May you be found 

As forceful and as weighty, 
With head as clear and heart as sound 

And full of song at eighty 
By your admiring fellow men 
As at the threescore years and ten. 

Dr. Samuel H. Greene, the greatly loved pastor of Cal- 
vary Church, Washington, D. C, joined in the chorus of 
congratulations : 

For many years I have had a growing sense of indebtedness 
to you, and a growing knowledge of your efficient service ren- 
dered the great people we represent. 

When Doctor Morehouse was pastor in Rochester, 
Dr. T. Edwin Brown was at the Second Church of that 
city, and their relations were exceedingly close. Doctor 
Brown's message was out of his heart when he wrote : 




210 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

You have made your mark and Christ's all over the pages of 
the history of our country for 25 years. God keep you 3'ears yet 
in the chair you have filled so nobly. 

Dr. T. J. Villers, writing Doctor Morehouse in March, 
1909, said: 

Our denomination owes you a debt that we can never pay. 
You have carried empires in your bosom and new eras in 
your brain. You have blazed trails for men of shorter vision 
to follow. You have laid broad and deep the foundations upon 
which men of less of the statesmanlike gifts might build. 

That Doctor Morehouse held a place all his ov^n in 
some hearts is made clear by a message sent him by 
Dr. James A. Francis on the last day of December, 1910: 

There are a few men, a very few, to whom I owe a debt of 
love of such a nature that I feel that but for them I could not 
be even what I am. You are one of them. The sense of debt 
grows bigger with the years. It will never grow less in this 
life. 

His relation to the American Baptist Education So- 
ciety has been set forth in another chapter, but place 
should be given here for the formal expression of appre- 
ciation adopted by the Executive Board of that Society 
at its meeting in December, 1902 : 

The Executive Board of the American Baptist Education 
Society desires to record its sincere appreciation of the services 
of Rev. H. L. Morehouse, D. D., as Acting Corresponding Secre- 
tary from 1893 to January i, 1903. 

When the Society was left without an executive officer, be- 
cause of the resignation of its last Secretary, the situation 
normally suggested the election of Doctor Morehouse to this 
function. The many personal qualities essential for such a 
service, and many requirements "demanded by the external con- 
ditions of the work converged in him. In his brain and heart 



APPRECIATIONS 211 

the Society originated. During its entire career he has been 
actively interested in its ideals and practical enterprises, and 
officially identified with it. His knowledge of the needs of in- 
stitutions of learning, and their constituencies and administrative 
officers, his facilities for securing accurate information upon 
which the Board could base wise opinions for the consideration 
of givers to such institutions, his personal contacts with these 
educational enterprises in his extensive travels as Field Secre- 
tary of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and his 
conspicuous ability in analyzing and weighing a situation, and 
recombining its elements as the foundation for fruitful consid- 
eration by the Board, do not exhaust the catalogue of the quali- 
fications that necessitated his election to the office of Acting 
Corresponding Secretary. 

The Board has gre^t pleasure in expressing its sense of the 
fidelity with which all these and other noticeable endowments 
for its work have constantly been used, its self-congratulation 
upon the Providence which made such a service possible at the 
critical time of Doctor Morehouse's election, and its hearty 
gratitude for the personal courtesy and good-fellowship that 
have uniformly characterized its relations with him. It is fully 
aware that the financial part of its gratitude has by no means 
been the measure of either the amount or skill of the services 
rendered, or of its own thankfulness for the devotion exhibited. 
It asks the privilege of attaching this minute of appreciation 
to its records, and also of rejoicing that the same wisdom and 
interest that have been so helpful in the past will still unof- 
ficially be at the service of the Society in its problematic future. 

Under the caption, " The General of Home Missions," 
Dr. Howard B. Grose contributed an article to " The 
Standard" of June 17, 1911, in v^hich he reviewed the 
life of Doctor Morehouse and paid a glowing tribute to 
his character and work. " Remarkable for physical 
vigor," writes Doctor Grose, 

at an age approaching seventy-seven, doing work daily that 
would tire out many a younger man, he still carries the heavy 
burdens of official responsibility. Never has he lost the buoyant 
and optimistic spirit. The best is always to be, the future glows 



212 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

for him with hope, because his faith in God and the final triumph 
of Christianity are the rock upon which his Hfe has been 
grounded. It would be difficult to find a more ardent patriot 
or more confident believer in the destiny of America as a 
Protestant nation where ultimate democracy is to work out its 
highest forms of government and life, crowned by religion. 
The best of his life has been given unreservedly to the extension 
of Christianity in our country and the world. 

No Other man in our denomination has been given 
such repeated public recognition as Doctor Morehouse. 
On three occasions Northern Baptists assembled in 
annual meeting, adopted minutes of appreciation with 
such enthusiasm and heartiness as to lift them high above 
the plane of the perfunctory. The first of these testi- 
monials came at the conclusion of tv^enty-five years of 
service as Secretary of the Home Mission Society. At 
the Anniversaries in Cleveland, 1904, Dr. Wallace But- 
trick, Secretary of the General Education Board, v^as 
granted the floor and broke in upon the ordinary routine 
w^ith an extraordinary address. His speech, v^ith what 
followed, is taken from " The Standard's " report of the 
Anniversaries of that year: 

The anniversary of the Society this year is also the anniver- 
sary of some relations that are of great importance to this 
Society. Fifty years ago a lad lived at Avon, a few miles south 
of Rochester, New York. He was a farmer boy, used to hard 
work. About that time the University of Rochester was 
founded, and the discussions and controversies of that period 
awakened in his youthful mind a desire for collegiate training; 
and so with such preparation as he could get along in the later 
fifties he came on to Rochester and became a student under 
Martin B. Anderson and Ezekiel G. Robinson. Graduating first 
from the University, and then from the Seminary, he became 
a missionary pastor in the then new State of Michigan, where 
he achieved marked success. After some ten years of work in 
Michigan he was called to the pastorate of the East Avenue 



APPRECIATIONS 213 

Church in Rochester, New York, and soon became one of 
Doctor Strong's best advisers, and indeed for some time was the 
financial secretary of the Theological Seminary. 

His work in these new fields was so well done that our great 
leader in that day, Doctor Bishop, heard of him, and chose him 
out, that young man, and made him Corresponding Secretary of 
the Home Mission Society. It may not be known to you that 
this year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of his connection 
with our Society in executive capacit3^ 

Now, my friends, are we to let this important fact go without 
appreciative tribute? Years ago, at Minneapolis, I heard Doctor 
Ashmore call Doctor Morehouse the field marshal of the Baptist 
denomination; that was an apt and accurate designation. He 
has been without a superior in counsel. In all respects of 
constructive statesmanship he has been our leader. He is a 
man of vision who sees under the whole heaven, and discerns the 
possibilities of the future. He is such a man as great business 
corporations choose for the direction of their affairs ; men who, 
like my associate, Mr. William H. Baldwin, Jr., of New York 
City, can see the possibilities of development on Long Island 
and devise and mark out those great improvements to cost 
approximately $100,000,000, dividends from which cannot be 
expected for a decade or a score of years. Doctor Morehouse 
has that sort of vision, and has mapped out lines of work 
that we have been following for a generation. You know 
that for several years I was associated with Doctor Morehouse 
as a member of your Executive Board, and that now I am 
engaged in an allied work in our Southern States. I want 
to say that conditions and measures which we in our slow way 
are but now seeing. Doctor Morehouse saw and announced 
years ago. 

There is much that I should like to say of this great man; 
how many of us young men he has helped and brought out into 
the spheres of activity and usefulness; how much he did for us 
as pastors; and how our people loved him and flocked to hear 
him when he visited us from time to time. He has not only 
gained the confidence of our denomination; he has a place 
in our hearts where he abides forever. I speak of him as my 
friend, in some sense my father, though he is not old; he never 
can grow old, for he always dwells on the sunny side of life. 
I speak advisedly now, when I say that for all these twenty- 



214 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

five years, day and night, seven days a week, three hundred and 
sixty-five days a year, with slight vacation, with cables never 
cut, but always open to calls for help and sympathy, he has 
worked untiringly for the cause of Christ as represented by 
our Society. We should do injustice to ourselves if we let this 
day pass without notice. Mr. President, I move the appointment 
of a special committee who shall draft a careful and dignified 
statement of appreciation in recognition of this twenty-fifth an- 
niversary of Doctor Morehouse's connection witli our Society, 
and I suggest that some testimonial be prepared which shall 
be to him an abiding token of our gratitude, our esteem, and our 
honor. 

Instantly the motion was seconded by Secretary Mabie, 
of the Missionary Union, and Secretary Rowland, of the 
Publication Society, and passed unanimously, amid ap- 
plause. The following committee was appointed: Dr. 
Wallace Buttrick, New York; Dr. L. A. Crandall, Min- 
nesota; Prof. H. G. Googins, Illinois; E. M'. Thresher, 
Esq., Ohio; Dr. A. S. Hobart, Pennsylvania. The inci- 
dent created an enthusiasm felt in all the sessions which 
follow^ed. 

During the afternoon, after the addresses in which the 
value of the Home Mission Society's educational work 
among the colored people had been ably set forth, the re- 
port of the Special Committee was read by Doctor Cran- 
dall, as follows: 

The past twenty-five years have vntnessed a marvelous de- 
velopment of our national life. The settlement of territory 
heretofore unoccupied, the extension of national domain, the 
vast increase in population, have all served to enlarge and 
intensify the task of home evangelization. During this critical 
period in our political and religious development, one man has 
stood out preeminent among American Baptists as a sagacious 
and tireless leader in the work of winning America for Christ. 
To him it has been given not only to see clearly, to have un- 
dimmed vision of things as they are and are to be, but also to 



APPRECIATIONS 215 

plan with rare wisdom and to execute with high success. To no 
man does the cause of American Baptist Home Missions owe so 
much as to Henry L, I^Iorehouse. In him, unselfish consecration 
has been joined to a keen comprehension of the vast interests in- 
volved, ardent patriotism has been reinforced by unswerving 
loyalty to the kingdom of God, and to the vision of the states- 
man has been added that of God's prophet. In time of financial 
depression his faith never failed, and he saw and accomplished 
victory when some of us, less courageous, prophesied defeat. 
We feHcitate ourselves upon the gracious providence which has 
given to us the invaluable service of such a man for the quar- 
ter of a century past. We extend to Doctor Morehouse the 
assurance of our profound gratitude and warm affection, and 
here record not only our appreciation of the splendid contribution 
which he has made to the wx)rk already accomplished, but our 
earnest hope that he may be spared for many years to fill the 
position which he has so long adorned. 

The minute was unanimously adopted, amid prolonged 
applause. Then calls were made for Doctor Morehouse, 
who looked as though he were anxious to have the inci- 
dent closed. With evident feeling he spoke in substance, 
as follows: 

I cannot find words to express my appreciation of the too 
generous estimate which partial friends have placed upon my 
service. I am deeply touched. Could I have had my way I 
would not have had any such thing done. I do not feel that I 
am in any sense to be credited with the splendid results achieved 
by our Society. It is by the grace of God that I have continued 
to this present time. Whatever I have done I believe might 
have been done by scores of others under the same circum- 
stances. God's providence has contributed to the success of the 
Home Mission Society these last twent>^-five years. Any man 
or body of men who should claim the credit of this great work 
would be chargeable with presumption. God has been in it all 
the way through. He gave his people grace to see the splendid 
opportunity, and opened their hearts to it. The Society never 
faced larger opportunity than now, and was never in better 
position to do a magnificent work. A glorious unoccupied field 



2l6 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

remains to be cultivated. I appreciate these expressions because 
it means more than a personal word, it indicates loyalty to the 
work we have in hand. I do not forget that the Society is sim- 
ply an agency. In the years of my connection with it, I have 
not striven for the glorification of the Society, but rather to make 
it the most effective agency possible for the work. The work 
itself is ever the supreme thing. 

I came to the position as Secretary with extreme reluctance. I 
wondered why I had been called, and I am sure others did, too. 
I thought I would try it for five years, and see if anything could 
be done. At the end of that time something had been done, 
and I was willing to go on. After eleven years I said to the 
Board that it might be best to have a change in the secretary- 
ship, and I placed my resignation then at their disposal, but they 
said, No. At the end of fourteen years, when the burden became 
too heavy, I said I must get out. They said, You must stay 
and become Field Secretary. There were new problems just 
then which could not be solved from the office, and I accepted 
the position as a new call. For ten years I served in that 
capacity. When in the providence of God the Corresponding 
Secretary was removed by death, I was most reluctant to under- 
take the work of this position again, but was made to feel it a 
duty not to be escaped. By the grace of God I am what I 
am where I am. I am willing to continue my service, but when 
you don't want me, or I show any sign of waning powers, give 
me only the slightest hint, and I will make way for another. 
The work is greater than any man. I am happy in having such 
an associate as the Field Secretary; and by the appointment of 
an Editorial Secretary to relieve me of details which had be- 
come an unbearable burden to me, the Society is better equipped 
than ever before for its work, and I may with greater concen- 
tration give myself to the large questions that demand con- 
sideration by the Society, such as the Southern problem, the 
emigration problem, and the evangelistic problem. I thank you 
from my heart; and I pledge myself to do in my humble way 
what God assigns me to do, in this work for the salvation of 
the grandest land of all the lands of the globe. 

When the applause had ceased, Dr. E. H. E. Jameson, 
of Michigan, said he desired to speak a word in behalf 



APPRECIATIONS 217 

of all the district secretaries and superintendents of the 
Society : 

Doctor Morehouse has not been to us a master or a boss, 
but an inspiring leader and friend. He has understood the 
position we occupy as collectors of money and helpers of the 
pastors. We have never been scolded by hinu He has assumed 
that we had our individualities, and has respected them. He 
has expected us to know how to do our work in our respective 
and varied fields to the best advantage and has left methods to 
us. He has written us kind letters when we were in trouble. 
We have known that prayer was made for us at the Rooms, 
and have deeply appreciated this man of God. 

Five years later, at Portland, Oregon, when Doctor 
Morehouse had completed thirty years in the service of 
the Home Mission Society, the Northern Baptist Con- 
vention recorded its love for the great leader in a tribute 
presented by Rev, Lathan A. Crandall. Rarely if ever 
in our denominational history have such spontaneous and 
hearty manifestations of esteem and affection been shown 
toward any man as those which were given expression 
on this occasion. The minute which follows was not only 
unanimously adopted, but " with an ovation," as one of 
our denominational papers reported it in effort to picture 
the outburst of enthusiasm : 

In the stress of modern life, when great tasks await us and 
great issues depend upon our toil, we sometimes forget to ex- 
press the valuations which our souls register concerning the 
work of our fellow toilers, and neglect to speak out the fraternal 
affection which companionship with good men begets in our 
hearts. At this hour, even in the midst of Convention duties, 
the compulsion of a great and long-continued service causes 
us to pause for a moment that we may record our appreciation 
of the worth and work of a Christian comrade. 

In the recorded history of man, no period has marked a more 
marvelous development in national life than that through which 



2l8 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

the United States has passed in the last ^generation. As a 
denomination, we have undertaken to bear our part in the task 
of making this unfolding civilization truly Christian. The Amer- 
ican Baptist Home Mission Society, with " North America for 
Christ" blazoned upon its banner, has marched in the -forefront 
of, the army of Christian conquest. Were it ours to-day — as it 
is not — to note the achievements of these years, there v/ould be 
no need to lift our eyes from this church in which we meet, 
this city whose guests we are, this great State of the mighty 
Northwest, to find the indisputable evidences of successful 
service. 

During thirty years, one man has led in the work of Northern 
Baptists for the redemption of America. His eyes have looked 
into every nook and corner of this vast field, and his vigorous 
mind has anticipated the march of empire. The pathetic ap- 
peals of unfortunate people, ignorant, helpless, have stirred his 
heart to its depths and commanded his utmost of service in their 
behalf. As Paul wrote of the Philippian Christians, so this man 
could say of the millions in our land who are unhappy victims 
of hard conditions, " I have you in my heart." 

But not to one Society only, or to one Christian undertaking, 
has he given his uttermost of devotion. Our whole denomina- 
tional welfare, yes, all the interests of the kingdom of God have 
found hospitality in his great heart. To every movement which 
Baptists have inaugurated, to every effort of the Christian 
people of America to advance the cause of our common Lord, 
he has gladly contributed the best that his fine abilities and con- 
secrated spirit enabled him to give. Patient, intelligent, unre- 
mitting, unselfish service has found in him an admirable illus- 
tration through all this long stretch of years. 

His name is already upon your lips — Henry L. Morehouse; 
Christian statesman. Christian soldier, servant of all men for 
Jesus' sake. We do not need to praise him; his work is far 
m.ore eloquent than our poor words could be. But, standing to- 
day upon the summit of thirty eventful years, years in which he 
has wrought vnth such rare fidelity, such conspicuous wisdom, 
such unfailing love, we record our profound gratitude to Al- 
mighty God that he has given us such a man to perform such a 
ministry, our deep appreciation of the great service which he has 
rendered, our warmest affection to this honored comrade and 
cherished friend. 



APPRECIATIONS 2ig 

Not content with the pubHc testimonial, a group of 
those most closely associated with Doctor Morehouse, 
district secretaries, secretaries from the sister Societies, 
missionaries of the Home Mission Society, and intimate 
friends, gave a luncheon in his honor, at which time he 
was presented with a scarf-pin as a slight expression of 
that which was in the hearts of his hosts. 

For the last time this quinquennial service was ob- 
served in Boston in 1914. The beloved friend was ap- 
proaching his eightieth birthday. The years were be- 
ginning to do their work even on his sturdy frame. In 
many hearts was the fear — which proved to be well 
founded — that he would not be with us when another five 
years had rolled around. As on previous occasions, the 
tribute was prepared and read by Rev. Lathan A. Cran- 
dall. The inadequacy of speech to express the deeper 
emotions of the soul was forgotten in the great wave 
of feeling with which the audience greeted the tribute of 
love to the revered friend and leader : 

During these Convention days, as we celebrate the one-hun- 
dredth anniversary of the beginning of Baptist foreign missions 
and recall the great service rendered the cause of Christ by 
Adoniram Judson, we are not unmindful of important move- 
ments in our more recent denominational history. Attention 
has been called within the past two days to two significant de- 
nominational events falling within our own generation — namely, 
the formation of the American Baptist Education Society and 
the beginning of provision for the relief of needy Baptist minis- 
ters and missionaries. The man with whom both of these sig- 
nificant movements originated is still with us. For many years 
he has administered the affairs of our Home Mission Society 
with rare wisdom and immeasurable devotion. We cannot forget 
that when the success of the effort to raise $250,000 for our 
needy servants of God hung in the balance, this man came 
forward with a pledge of one-half of all that he had accumulated 
during a long life. That the proposed sacrifice was made un- 



220 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

necessary by the generous giving of others detracts not at all 
from the nobility of this act. In view of the completion of 
thirty-five years of service as Secretary of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society, and with keen appreciation of 
the great contribution which he has made to the progress of 
our denomination and of the kingdom of God, we extend to 
Dr. Henry L. Morehouse the assurance of our gratitude, our 
esteem, and our love. When, in a few months, he celebrates the 
eightieth anniversary of his birth, while few of us may be per- 
mitted to extend our felicitation in person, the entire con- 
stituency of the Northern Baptist Convention will shower him 
with loving thoughts and warmest best wishes. 

Once again a few of his friends entertained hirn at 
luncheon, and on this occasion the silver-toned Edward 
Judson voiced the affection which filled all hearts. 

The negro race in America has had no better friend 
than Doctor Morehouse. During his life he carried this 
people in his heart, and for thirty-eight years he gave 
freely of his time and strength in their behalf. All that 
he accomplished for the betterment of the Baptist negroes 
of the South can never find record ; but it is a pleasure 
to allow some of the leaders to express their estimate of 
their untiring friend : " The negro race in America has 
had no truer friend," writes Principal M. W. Reddick, of 
Americus Institute. 

He seemed himself the real brother of the needy Avhen 
called upon to do his bit for their betterment. His service to the 
black race of America was inestimable. 

Dr. R. T. Pollard, President of Selma University, de- 
clares that, 

I poured out to Doctor Morehouse my sorrows and joys 
like I would not to any other man; because I felt that he had 
peculiar interest in me and would gladly share my sorrows, if 
there were any, or rejoice at any success that I might think 
I had. 



APPRECIATIONS 221 

Dr. A. M. Moore, of Durham, S. C, considers Doctor 
Morehouse " the foremost exponent of the Northern 
Christian church," and believes that 

history should record and perpetuate his memory as the South's 
greatest benefactor, not alone for what he has manifestly accom- 
plished, but for preventing thousands of tragedies which were 
thwarted by his wisdom and foresight. His memory will ever 
be a watchword in every negro home throughout this country, 
his life an aroma of sweetness making glad a nation dwelling in 
the shadow. 

No man is more representative of the negro Baptists 
of the South than Dr. E. C. Morris, and his acquaintance 
with Doctor Morehouse extended over a period of thirty- 
four years. He speaks in warm appreciation of the 
latter's service in securing representation for negro Bap- 
tists at the time of the organization of the General Bap- 
tist Convention of North America, and says that he was a 

major-general among the Baptist leaders. The negro people 
as a whole regarded Doctor Morehouse as one of the greatest 
benefactors the race ever had. 

President Maxson, of Bishop College, says, " I verily 
believe that he thought there was nothing too good for 
the negro race." 

" Doctor Morehouse was a warm-hearted, far-visioned 
Christian statesman," is the verdict of President Booker, 
of the Arkansas Baptist College. 

In the monumental government work on negro educa- 
tion, edited by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones, and dealing 
with the private and higher schools for colored people 
in the United States, a careful study is made of denomi- 
national schools in the South for the education of the 
negro race. In the consideration of the contribution 
made by Baptists, Doctor Jones says : 



222 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

The names of men and women who gave many years of faith- 
ful service would constitute a list too long to be entered here. 
Two of those whose wisdom has directed the policies in recent 
years should be mentioned. Dr. H. L. Morehouse belongs to the 
past as well as to the present. He began as Secretary of the 
Society in 1879 and has continued until the present time. Dr. 
George Sale was superintendent of education for several years 
until his death in 1912 and exerted a notable influence on the 
educational methods of the institutions under his direction. 

The inclusiveness of Doctor Morehouse's sympathies 
has often been commented upon by those who have spoken 
of his public services. He had room in his heart for 
white and black, rich and poor, educated and ignorant. 
Possibly his interest deepened in proportion to the need, 
and so he came to have special care for the negro and 
the Indian. During all the long years of his official re- 
lations with the Home Mission Society he gave himself, 
with unresting ardor, to the task of evangelizing the 
" first Americans." As we have seen, he visited them, 
camped with them, prayed with them, preached to them, 
and labored for them. His devotion to their welfare did 
not go unappreciated, as will be seen by the testimony of 
Lone Wolf, which is given just as it was received from 
him: 

Years ago when this missionary work began, these tribes, 
Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, were wild Indians and Jesus 
sent Doctor Morehouse as his representative of the gospel. 
Jesus was back of him pushing him forward. We met at the 
Indian agency at Anadarko. There Jesus gave Doctor More- 
house the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said. You go to these lands. 
These lands were not at that time under cultivation nor were 
the tribes Christian; you go and plant the good seed in these 
lands, and make them like lands of milk and honey, for God 
gave these lands to us that they might be developed. At that 
time Major Miles was agent. Doctor Morehouse was much in- 
terested in having churches built in these tribes, and said he 



APPRECIATIONS 22^ 

would help us in developing the country and in establishing re- 
ligious work. My heart was big at what Doctor Morehouse said ; 
and I helped him pull in the new road. The plans he made 
were good, and have been carried out and now we have the 
gospel. When I think of this I am so joyful in my heart, and 
am so thankful to Doctor Morehouse and to God; for they have 
lifted us so high that now we can go to other tribes that are 
heathen and tell them the gospel, and this way spread the good 
news. Now we are a chosen people working for Jesus. We 
had heavy burdens to bear for Jesus' sake. Those burdens 
were borne by both of us, as we worked for Jesus. Doctor 
Morehouse has laid his burdens down, and gone to the Father's 
home; but I am left behind, still traveling with the burden on 
me. At times I am persecuted for Christ's sake, but God will 
see that I some time wall meet him and we will be one with the 
Father. Some years ago Doctor White visited at my house, and 
Doctor Morehouse sent this word by him : " I v/ish that I might 
see Lone Wolf again in this world ; but if that cannot be I will 
see him in heaven." When I think of Doctor Morehouse I think 
of him as a very wise, kind, and loving man; willing to do 
all that he could for the down-trodden and oppressed. The 
gospel through this man and the missionaries and the govern- 
ment has made this land good and the work will never stop. 

Your brother in Christ, 

Deacon Lone Wolf of the Elk Creek Church. 

Rev. H. H. Clouse, through whom this tribute was 
secured, missionary to the Kiowa Indians, and greatly 
honored for his work's sake, writes of Doctor More- 
house : 

God's man, a manly man, a man with a divine perspective, a 
man of broad sympathies, a man with a heart of love for the 
sinful and oppressed, a man with a mind able to adapt the best 
means to the best ends, Christ's man here, Christ's man in the 
realms of the blessed. 

No small man can gain and hold the affection of those 
who are his subordinates. The largeness of spirit which 



22^ HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

characterized Doctor Morehouse is evidenced by the uni- 
versal esteem in which he was held by those who worked 
with him and under his direction. Among those who de- 
lighted to call him " chief " is Dr. Bruce Kinney, Super- 
intendent of Home Missions for the Midland District. 
Doctor Kinney's tribute to his revered leader breathes 
that confidence and affection which Doctor Morehouse 
inspired in all those who were his associates in Christian 
labor : 

While we were officially intimate and usually saw things eye 
to eye, there v/ere never the personal intimacies which so often 
characterize such relationships. He never called me by my 
first name, ** Bruce," until the last year of his life. I was very 
proud of this and considered it quite an achievement. Yet I 
was often surprised at his unstudied utterances or expressions 
in his letters which showed how completely he had the "under- 
standing heart.'* 

He was our " Chief " not because of his office but because of 
his big brain, great heart, and transparent sincerity. We all 
remember two occasions when it seemed as though the Northern 
Baptist Convention was almost hopelessly rent by wrangling 
over policies. Doctor Morehouse's simple suggestions were 
adopted without a dissenting voice or vote. Everybody knew 
that he was not trying to "put anything over" for himself. 
He might have been a great poet had he so elected, yet he had a 
grasp of practical detail that was often startling. He was a 
clear thinker and sure in his speech. Every word counted in 
his letters. His convictions had the rugged quietness of our 
Western mountains but withal their solidity and strength. He 
was absolutely fair to those who differed from him. 

In all the j^ears I never once doubted the sincerity of his 
purpose nor the clarity of his vision which was, so often, in 
reality prevision. 

Few men were as closely associated with Doctor More^ 
house during the last years of his life as was Dr. F. H. 
Divine. " As I knew him," writes Doctor Divine, 



APPRECIATIONS 225 

he was always democratic, appreciative, generous-minded, cordial, 
and congenial. In official relationships he was always sym- 
pathetic, suggestive, and helpful. He could analyze difficult prob- 
lems quickly and form far-reaching and reliable judgments. . . 
I can never tell the story of the richness and thrill I feel at the 
privilege of having been permitted to enjoy his fellowship and 
sit at his feet and enjoy his confidence for nearly ten years. 

Although the vv^ords spoken at the memorial service 
for Doctor Morehouse held in connection with the meet- 
ing of the Northern Baptist Convention in Cleveland, 
May 20, 1917, were reported in some of our denomina- 
tional papers, and very carefully in " Missions," their re- 
production here seems to be warranted if we are to look 
at the life of Doctor Morehouse from the angles occu- 
pied by those who knew him best. The remarks of 
Dr. John R. Brown on that occasion, preeminently his- 
torical in character, are included in the first chapter of 
this story of Doctor Morehouse's life. Dr. George Caleb 
Moor brought a pastor's tribute to the helpfulness of 
Doctor Morehouse as a member of the Temple Church, 
Brooklyn. " To the denomination," said Doctor Moor, 

Doctor Morehouse was a missionary statesman, a masterful 
personality, and inspiring leader; to his home church he was a 
loyal member, a regular attendant, a wise counselor, a generous 
giver, a devout worshiper, the pastor's true friend, and the 
people's big brother. This noble man never left the service 
until he had grasped the pastor's hand and said a word of 
encouragement. Every little while a letter would come from 
his desk cheering the pastor's heart. How he rejoiced in the 
evangelical policy of the Temple. For years he was superin- 
tendent of its Sunday School, and until a year ago a valued 
trustee, always interested in its progress. When the Temple 
burned down, one of the first messages received was written 
by the hand withdrawn for a moment in the shadow, saying, 
"The Temple must be rebuilt; it is absolutely necessary to the 
evangelical life of the Borough of Brooklyn." You knew him as 



226 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

a conspicuous leader. We knew him as a humble, devout, and 
earnest member. We who have heard Doctor Morehouse pray 
shall always dwell in the atmosphere of holiness. To those 
of us who have heard him speak there will always be a silent 
literature in the heart. To those of us who remember his 
noble face there will always be a picture-gallery of the mighty 
dead. 

Dr. Charles L. White, his associate in the work of 
Corresponding Secretary, spoke of the closing days of 
his life, and then passed on to the following estimate : 

Doctor Morehouse passed from the farm to become a scientific 
farmer in the kingdom of God. He studied races as men 
study soil. Nationalities were his friends. He taught men all 
over this country to plant their altars where they plowed their 
acres. He had the soul of an apostle, the intuitions of a prophet, 
the wisdom of a statesman, and the heart of a Christian gen- 
tleman. Patient with the frailties of his comrades in service and 
generous in his praises of their labors with him in the kingdom 
of God, he knit us closely into his heart. Mr. Emerson must 
have had such a man as this great personality in mind when 
he said that an institution was simply the shadow of an indi- 
vidual. Doctor Morehouse so intimately related himself to the 
depth and height and breadth of the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society that his name will be forever synonymous with 
its work and influence. For nine years I shared his burdens. 
I sat at his feet. He was incomparably the greatest teacher that 
I ever had, and thousands of his friends will say the same of 
this master of methods and master of men. 

It is only upon the insistence of friends of Doctor 
Morehouse that the writer violates good taste by includ- 
ing in this volume the address delivered by himself on 
this occasion: 

Ever since the home-going of Doctor Morehouse, I have been 
hearing one of our Lord's immortal sayings, " H any man would 
be first among you, let him be your servant." This is more than 
a text; it is the supreme interpretation of life. Taken with 



APPRECIATIONS 227 

that other wonderful paradox, " Whosoever will save his life 
shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall 
find it," it not only lets us into the secret of Jesus, but into 
the secret of every life that has large worth for the world. High 
birth, vaulting ambition, or great material possessions often de- 
termine one's standing in human society, but these things pur- 
chase no primacy in the kingdom of God. The " will to power " 
curses the world and debauches the soul that holds it, except as 
it blossoms from the *' will to serve." Leadership is no inherent 
right. If any man comes to it, he must travel the path marked 
by the footsteps of One who could not save himself because he 
would save others; and this is so not because of arbitrary 
enactment, but by immutable law of life. Leadership to be real 
must be based upon the admiration, trust, and love of our 
fellows. These do not spring up in answer to an imperious 
demand, but as does the flower from the earth when wooed by 
the rays of the sun and quickened by the showers of spring. 
Call the roll of those whom the world cannot forget. Paul! 
A bond-servant of Jesus Christ. Luther! Recoverer to the 
Christian world of the transcendent truth that salvation is by 
faith and not by magic. John Howard! Tireless benefactor 
of those who rotted in English jails. Florence Nightingale! 
The angel of the battle-field. Abraham Lincoln! Liberator 
of an enslaved people and savior of a nation. And if to-day 
we add another to the long list, what shall we write opposite the 
name of Henry L. Morehouse? I know of nothing more true, 
nothing more appropriate than that by which the greatest Chris- 
tian of all the centuries delighted to be known, "Your servant, 
for Jesus' sake.'* 

This is not a biography, but an attempt to express our love 
for Doctor Morehouse and to note some of the qualities which 
called it forth. That such an attempt will come far short of 
being satisfactory is beyond peradventure. We can never mea- 
sure the great emotions of the human heart with the tiny cup 
of human speech. The greater the love, the greater our failure 
when we try to put it into words. Then too, we stand too 
near to permit of the clearest vision. We see this or that 
admirable trait and some of the things which he accomplished, 
but only time will reveal the full value of his contribution to 
human well-being, and those who come after us will be able to 
estimate him more justly than can we who knew him in the flesh. 



228 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

I have said that he commanded the admiration, the trust, and 
the affection of his brethren. This did not happen; it was 
caused, and the cause lay in the man. By virtue of what he 
was, our attitude toward him is what it is. He was no poseur 
seeking to draw attention to himself; no sycophant trying by 
specious flattery and feigned interest in others to produce a 
favorable estimate of himself. We admired him because he 
neither flattered nor played to the gallery. He was notably sin- 
cere. He may not have pleased us always with the views 
which he advanced, or the plans which he championed; but no 
man ever thought of him as playing a part. And genuineness 
is essential if others are to trust and love us. A genuine ten- 
cent piece is of larger value than a counterfeit ten-dollar bill. 
It is said that our age is marked by a hunger after reality. If 
this be true, then he answered to the appetency of his age, and 
so commended himself to those with whom he had to do. 
However acute and brilliant the trickster may be, we can- 
not trust or love him. Doctor Morehouse never dealt in 
subterfuge or quibble; he was too innately honest. As he 
saw he spoke, and whether his words seemed to us wise 
or unwise, men knew that his utterance came from profound 
conviction. 

But we had learned to expect from him wise counsel. It is 
safe to say that no one among us was heard with greater respect 
upon any question having to do with denominational affairs 
or with the interests of the kingdom of God than was he. 
And the value of his advice was not all due to long experi- 
ence. The Lord endowed Doctor Morehouse with a fine quality 
of brain-stuff ; otherwise, no amount of training would have made 
him the man he was. The wise use of opportunity, the constant 
exercise of his powers, served to develop and exhibit his native 
ability. Dr. M. B. Anderson once said : " There is one thing the 
university cannot do; it cannot furnish brains." Neither the 
passing of time nor careful cultivation ever changed a cabbage 
plant into a calla-llly. Experience increased Doctor Morehouse's 
power for helpful service, but it was native ability to think 
straight and to distinguish the important from the trivial in the 
problems which he faced, that enabled him to make wise use of 
experience. 

Beecher declared that the only genius of which he had any 
knowledge was the genius for hard work. Judged by this 



APPRECIATIONS 229 

standard, our friend was an extraordinary man. Idleness made 
him unhappy. Some have capacity for toil without the inclina- 
tion, and some the inclination without the capacity. Doctor 
Morehouse had both capacity and inclination. With great phys- 
ical vigor went an insatiable appetite for work. He found him- 
self in a world where important tasks are a constant challenge, 
and joyously he answered the challenge. His ideal world was 
not one in which people have naught to do but " sit and sing 
themselves away to everlasting bliss," neither was his heaven 
a place for masterly inactivity. For him, the privilege of labor 
was a proof of God's goodness to man. In this unquenchable 
desire to share in the world's worth-while work, we discover at 
least a partial explanation of his rare usefulness. In his all 
too rare vacations, he rested by doing something other than his 
accustomed work. As a guest in our home soon after his return 
from a holiday spent in Hawaii, he recounted his then recent 
experiences. Nothing had escaped him. He was a walking en- 
cyclopedia of information concerning soil, climate, people, vol- 
canic action, and unrealized possibilities of this paradise of the 
Pacific. 

Because of his passion to serve, his untiring energy and his 
prophetic vision, his life fruited in great increase of our denom- 
inational efficiency. He was at the same time temperamentally 
conservative and a born adventurer. He was cautious about 
committing himself to experiments, but eager to fare forth in 
untrodden ways if only they promised to lead to an increase of 
territory for his Lord. He loved the old paths, but was not 
afraid of new ones, and when he had caught the vision of some- 
thing that ought to be undertaken for God and God's children, 
with what majestic devotion and tireless zeal he gave himself 
to its accomplishment. A part, at least, of his philosophy was 
summed up in a pregnant sentence which some of you may have 
heard him utter in San Francisco two years ago this month, 
** Whatever ought to be done, can be done." No man can believe 
that who does not know God. It was his vital sense of the 
Most High, his sublime confidence that God is in his world and 
really working out through weak humans his divine plan, that 
made Doctor Morehouse an incurable optimist and gave to him 
his secure place as premier among constructive religious states- 
men. He served a living Christ, who is evermore fulfilling the 
promise of his presence. He might have made his own the 



230 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

words which Browning, in "The Death in the Desert," puts 
into the mouth of the aged John: 

" To me that story, aye, that life and death, 
Of which I wrote it was, 
To me it is; is here and now. 
I apprehend naught else. 
Is not God now in the world 
His power first made ? " 

Would we catalogue that which he accomplished? It cannot 
be done. Thank God that it is so; for this means that beyond 
the identifiable results of his service are rich fruits of which 
only God knows; that the good seed which he sowed has not 
as yet all revealed itself in golden harvests, but that some of it 
will ripen long after the name of the sower has been forgotten. 
But we do well to rejoice together in that enlargement of life 
which he helped to bring about, in the tangible evidences of his 
wise and strong leadership. For thirty-eight years he gave him- 
self to the noble task of winning " America for Christ." He was 
a specialist in Home Missions, but like every true specialist, 
the windows of his life were open toward every department of 
human endeavor. He knew that Paul's declaration, " We are 
members one of another," is not less true of collective move- 
ments than of individuals. It was his special task to develop 
the kingdom of God at home, but his interest in work among 
non- Christian peoples in distant lands was deep and abiding. 
Among the many notable contributions which he made to our 
denominational life, and so to God's kingdom, perhaps the one 
which stirs our hearts most profoundly was the organization of 
the Ministers arid Missionaries Benefit Board. He knew the 
pastor's life by experience. When he went to East Saginaw, 
he turned his back upon enticing opportunities for money-making, 
that he might do his bit in making the world over after the 
thought of God. When he saw men and women, who had 
given themselves through long years in unselfish devotion to 
God's work, living in dire poverty or as the beneficiaries of a 
cold public charity, his spirit was stirred within him and he 
cried aloud. Yea, he indicted us for criminal neglect of our 
own, and we could not do other than plead guilty. He not only 
awakened us from our lethargy, but led us to undertake. 



I 



APPRECIATIONS 23 1 

As we are met in this memorial service, all over this land 
prayers of thanksgiving to God are going jip, tremulous with 
gratitude and with great affection, from those for whom life's 
evening time has been lighted up by that which was wrought 
out by Doctor Alorehouse. 

Reference has just been made to his first pastorate — that at 
East Saginaw, Michigan. While he will be remembered as the 
great administrator, we must not forget that he was first of all 
and to the end, a preacher of the Evangel. He loved the pas- 
torate and was eminently successful in it. Only the insistence of 
his brethren and his own sense of duty led him to take up 
another form of ministry. You who have heard him will agree 
that he was a great preacher; great because he had a great 
message, clearly apprehended and adequately declared. Who of 
those present at Des Moines four years ago will ever forget 
that masterly setting forth of the Baptist task? In August of 
1905 we were together at the Annual Meeting of the Welsh 
Baptist Union, held in the little mining town of Abercairn, 
South Wales. On a beautiful afternoon Doctor Morehouse 
preached in the open air. A covered rostrum had been built at 
the foot of a grass-covered hill, and five thousand people sat 
upon the hillside. In that same place, twenty-five years before, 
the immortal Spurgeon had spoken to a spell-bound multitude. 
It may have been the associations, it may have been the unusual 
circumstances, but whatever the cause. Doctor Morehouse spoke 
as one inspired. In that hour there came to me a new revealing 
of the man's passionate love for men, confidence in God, and 
power to present divine truth. 

We shall see him here no more. He fought a good fight, 
and died as he would have wished — on the field of battle. We 
shall miss him sorely, for he was more than a great leader — ^he 
was our friend. Explain it as you will, he captured our affection. 
Sometimes we learn to love people because they are so helpless, 
so dependent upon our offices. No such explanation suffices 
in his case. Were it fitting to introduce the personal element 
here, not a few of us would gladly speak of intimate and sacred 
experiences, in which he was God's chosen messenger to bring us 
help; but this would not make clear the universal affection 
which he commanded. Possibly it was because long ago he 
decided to "build his house by the side of the road and be a 
friend to man." As men passed tO' and fro before his dwelling, 



232 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

they heard from him no railing accusations, no caustic arraign- 
ment. If he had no word of counsel, of cheer, of encouragement, 
he kept silent. He looked out upon all men through eyes aglow 
with friendship, and men's hearts answered back to the love 
which filled his own. If the spirits of the departed hover 
above those who remain for a little here upon the earth, he 
is among that great cloud of witnesses, looking down upon 
us to-day, as we meet to do him honor. If he could speak to 
us, he would say : " Be in earnest ; do not trifle ; what ought 
to be done, can be done. 

On May 26, 191 8, a memorial window in honor of 
Doctor Morehouse was unveiled in the Brooklyn Temple, 
where he had been a member for nearly forty years. On 
that occasion an address was delivered by Dr. Lemuel 
Call Barnes. Because of his opportunity to know Doctor 
Morehouse, as friend and colaborer, Doctor Barnes' 
interpretation of the character of his friend is of special 
value : 

The supreme reality in this world and in all worlds is per- 
sonality. We to-day are called back to that fact, at a time 
when organization seems to be all-powerful, at an hour when 
money and mechanisms seem to be almost omnipotent. 

Henry Lyman Morehouse was a great personality. It was 
through personality that he more and more molded the life of a 
denomination of millions of people. The heart of the whole 
universe is the personal God. His redemption of the human 
race is not through perfect wisdom's devices or through the 
might of unlimited forces, but through the Person of his beloved 
Son. We are unveiling a window in this Temple to-day in 
memory of Henry L. Morehouse because he was a son of 
God. 

Let us make no attempt to speak of his history or of his 
manifold works. Look only at his personality. The human soul 
is an indivisible unit, acting now in this direction and now in 
that. For convenience in seeking to make an estimate of it, 
the familiar division of faculties serves well enough — intellect, 
feeling, and will. 



APPRECIATIONS 233 

1. The intellectual life of Doctor Morehouse was marked. All 
men knew him as a man of great thoughts. His mind was 
preeminently constructive. While smaller intellects may be 
sharp in analysis and destructive criticism, he was one of ten 
thousand in power to select the elemental factors of a problem 
and to build them together into a habitable Whole. At the 
same time he had a marvelous mastery of details. When past 
eighty years of age, if occasion arose, he could marshal an 
irresistible array of figures and facts. 

He had unusual keenness of perception, penetration of in- 
sight, and quickness of discrimination. Every one who came 
in contact with him learned to rely on his mental processes. 
They were sane, comprehensive, practical. The breadth of his 
views was matched by the length of his vision and the depth 
of his judgment. His intellect was not merely foursquare — 
it was solid. 

2. In the realm of feeling Doctor Morehouse was as remark- 
able as in the realm of intellect. His thoughts were glowing 
thoughts. Cold, abstract speculations were foreign to him. You 
always had a feeling that his heart was as great as his head. 
That is why he was such a master of assemblies. It was said 
of William Ewart Gladstone that he could make the presentation 
of a statistical budget in Parliament an occasion of fascinating 
interest. How often has the denomination heard Doctor More- 
house present an annual report or an historical resume of, say, 
fifty or seventy-five years of history, reading it from manu- 
script and at the same time swaying all hearts into the stream of 
his own feeling. 

Now and then his great soul broke forth in poetic imagery. 
Some of his lines never can be forgotten, notably his " Prayers, 
Means, and Men for Mexico," and "My Song at Seventy." I 
have known their repetition in remote country churches by 
people who had no personal acquaintance with him, to stir 
many hearts. They leaped over all barriers from heart to 
heart 

He never was effusive. Yet every one who had the privilege 
of personal touch with him, quickly knew that he not only 
understood, but he cared. "The sympathizing tear" sometimes 
appeared even on public occasions. His wide administrative 
contacts were suffused with personal interest. That is why, 
when he passed away, heartfelt expressions came pouring in 



234 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

from all over the continent which he had served. Red men on 
the plains of the West, black men in the fields of the South, 
people of many m,other-tongues in the East, and Latin Amer- 
icans on the outlying islands of North America, as well as 
people of the prevailing American stock — learned and ignorant, 
rich and poor, East and West — all mourned the passing of Doc- 
tor Morehouse into the unseen world. 

This window in his own beloved church is the fitting 
memorial of a glowing heart athrob with the very heart of 
Christ. 

3. The deep center of personality is the will. The wise think- 
ing and the tender feeling of Doctor Morehouse always guided 
and represented his will, so that it never was obtrusive. All 
the more it was regnant. Those who knew him intimately 
knew how positive and tenacious was that good will of his.- 
Profound students of the human soul agree that the pivot of the 
will is the fixing of attention. Amid the manifold multiplica- 
tion of details in the work of Doctor Morehouse and the truly 
indescribable distractions of his vocation, he would concentrate 
his attention on any problem which emerged so that it could 
hold the field of thought and feeling until clear decision could 
be reached. When that was done, he would stand for it through 
all kinds of differing opinion and apparently insurmountable 
difficulty. He so skilfully guided the wills of others that it 
seldom was necessary for him to assert his will as being his 
will. He felt obliged to do that sometimes in a great emergency. 
For example, when some of the most influential elements in 
the denomination were arrayed against the organization of the 
Northern Baptist Education Society, he stood on the platform 
of the May Meetings at the crisis of debate, brought his arm 
down with a swinging gesture and said, " It must and shall 
be done." One result of that as^sertion of will was the founda- 
tion of the greatest institution of learning in the West. 

While concentration of attention is the essence of will power, 
the greatest exercise of that power is in cooperation with other 
wills. Only men of mighty will are equal to doing that on a large 
scale and continuously. Any weakling can insist on having 
things his own way. A child can refuse to play if something 
displeases him. It takes one who is every inch a man to coop- 
erate with those from whom he decidedly differs. Doctor 
Morehouse had that supreme quality of human personality, the 






APPRECIATIONS 235 

will to yield his own will in democratic cooperation with other 
wills. While he was the master mind among millions, he always 
was free from pernicious autocracy. His will adjusted itself 
to the will of his brethren. It frequently reshaped the will of 
the whole brotherhood because it incarnated the common will 
and put into sway the best will of all under the spell of the 
infinite Good-will. The democratic, cooperative spirit attained 
one of its highest manifestations in Doctor Morehouse. It 
reached far beyond his own beloved denominational fellowship. 
He chanced to be a guest in my home in Massachusetts at the 
time he was helping to organize the Home Missions Council 
of all denominations. I never can forget the boyish zest with 
which the tenacious Baptist leader of threescore years and 
ten spoke of this new venture in cooperation. 

The greatness of personality in Doctor Morehouse was most 
manifest in the fact that all his outstanding powers cooperated 
with each other in forming a wonderfully balanced character. 
Many who are eminent in intellect are cold-hearted or dry- 
hearted. Many a giant in the emotional realm, a veritable 
genius in poetic or other artistic development, has been devoid 
of even common sense or devoid of sufficient will to control 
himself, to say nothing of controlling others. Again, prodigies 
of will of a certain type are frequently of small intellect and of 
decided hardness of heart. Most men of eminence are dis- 
tinguished by preeminence of one or another of these powers 
of personality, few by the constant action of all together. It 
is only the highest type of personality that is a trinity in unity. 
In our beloved Doctor Morehouse, head and heart and hand 
acted in unison. Hence he moved among his fellows and 
touched them with constant power. His contacts being at the 
same time wise and tender and firm, were characterized by 
that consummate grace which is called tact. 

What was the secret of the coordination of his powers, making 
him a truly great personality? There was undoubtedly an in- 
herited balance of aptitudes. I stood yesterday with melting 
heart in the hillside farmhouse where he was" born of sturdy 
Scotch and New England ancestry. His inherited aptitudes were 
persistently cultivated, cultivated with diligence and by the 
highest means of grace. But there was a special coordinating 
force which mastered all his unusual powers and drove them 
through a long life in steady, phenomenal team-work. It was 



236 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

what one of the greatest students of personality in our day 
calls the supreme secret of the higher life of man, loyalty. 

Henry L. Morehouse was by no means perfect, but he came 
about as near as any strong man is likely to come — and only 
a strong man can come near — to being completely dominated 
by the personality of God disclosed in the man Jesus Christ. 

No more important work is being- done by the Ameri- 
can Baptist Home Mission Society than that which is 
undertaken in behalf of those who come from other lands 
to find homes in this New World. Doctor Morehouse's 
interest in the evangelization of foreign-speaking peoples 
was intelligent and deep. That he won the confidence 
and esteem of Germans, Scandinavians, French, Bohe- 
mians, and Poles is known to every one familiar with this 
department of home mission work. No one is more rep- 
resentative of the ever-growing Baptist constituency 
among those of foreign birth or parentage than Dr. Frank 
Peterson, the honored Joint Secretary for the Home and 
Foreign Societies, with headquarters in Minneapolis. 
Doctor Peterson pays his tribute of esteem in these well- 
chosen words : 

Doctor Morehouse was a Christian statesman with a deep 
penetration and a broad vision. He was fully capable of diag- 
nosing missionary problems and applying the proper remedies. 
The problem of the foreigner must ever be a perplexing question 
to one whose business it is to direct the affairs of a Home 
Mission Society which works among a cosmopolitan population 
such as we have in this countr5^ Doctor Morehouse studied the 
question closely and well and met the situation as wisely as any 
man in his day. 

His idea of Americanization stood far in advance of that of 
many who think it merely consists in the use of the English 
language. He knew that such superficiality would defeat its 
own object and that that alone would be merely a veneer which 
would leave the heart as it was before. He knew that real 
Americanization must be brought about by the friendly com- 



APPRECIATIONS 237 

mingling of people of all nationalities and by the adoption of 
the best ideals of each. He regarded every man of every 
nationality as a part of our body politic and therefore showed 
the same spiritual concern for them all. That he was re- 
warded for his unselfish dealings is shown by the fact that in 
winning the foreigner no Protestants in this country have been 
more successful than the Baptists. 

When Doctor Morehouse was called from his labors every 
foreign-speaking Baptist church in the country felt that they 
had lost a true friend. 

Dr. Augustus H. Strong, for so many years the hon- 
ored head of Rochester Theological Seminary, having 
had special opportunities for knowing Doctor Morehouse 
as pastor and as Secretary, sends an appreciation which 
will be cordially endorsed by all who knew the East 
Avenue pastor : 

My acquaintance with him began with his pastorate in Roches- 
ter and his connection with the Seminary. Here he was per- 
sistent and faithful, a man of resources, never acknowledging 
defeat, bold and optimistic, encouraging others and quickly push- 
ing ahead when they despaired. What he was in his church and 
in his Secretaryship in Rochester he continued to be when he 
was summoned to the management of our Home Mission work. 
He was a tower of strength to us as a denomination. As an 
adviser and counselor he had no superior, I had almost said, 
no equal. He was my personal friend, in whose word and faith 
I trusted implicitly, and I mourn his loss. We shall not see 
his like again. I cannot explain his lonely but cheerful life, 
except by believing that that life was hid with Christ in God. 

In closing this chapter, which presents only in small 
part the tributes paid to the friend and administrator, we 
cannot do better than present the resolutions adopted by 
the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society upon the death of Doctor Morehouse. 
The men who drafted this minute were associated with 



238 HENRY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

him in the great tasks committed to that Society, and 
knew the Corresponding Secretary from long and inti- 
mate cooperation with him in work for God, 

The death of Dr. Henry L. Morehouse has brought to the 
Home Mission Society a loss so great that the Board for its 
own sake, as well as for the sake of the Baptist denomination, 
desires to give expression and to place on record our high 
appreciation of the man and the work he wrought. 

Doctor Morehouse was elected Corresponding Secretary of the 
Home Mission Society in May, 1879. Except from 1892 to 1902, 
when he served as Field Secretary, he held that office until death, 
May 5, 191 7. With active qualities of mind and heart trained 
and refined in school, college, and theological seminary; de- 
veloped by an experience of ten years in what at that time was 
a mission field in the west; his sympathies and power to move 
men intensified by a pastorate in a large church, he entered 
upon his chief work with an unusually broad preparation. 

When he became Corresponding Secretary the American Bap- 
tist Home Mission Society employed only 236 missionaries and 
teachers, the annual expenditure was $115,083.38 and most of 
the State Conventions were poorly equipped and developed. The 
Society of necessity became responsible for every missionary 
and his salary, and in addition was also financially responsible 
in part for many of the State Conventions themselves. As 
rapidly as possible this responsibility was transferred from the 
Society to the Conventions, the latter steadily assuming more 
appointments for missionary activities and at the same time 
undertaking more of the financial care of the workers. A few 
contrasting figures indicate the measure of the growth under his 
administration. The latest report of the Society records 1,274 
missionaries and teachers, instead of 236 when he entered upon 
his office. The annual expenditures increased from $115,083.38 
to $987,611.46. Students in the schools for negroes increased 
from 1,056 to more than 7,000. During the thirty-eight years 
of his official connection with the Home Mission Society, Doctor 
Morehouse's wise and broad dealing with the many complex 
problems that arose from the new adjustment intensified and 
strengthened the mutual confidence of all. 

Not only in his personal inspection of fields and his judicial 



APPRECIATIONS :239 

administration of the affairs of the Society, but also in his 
comprehension of the possibilities in new fields and the energy 
with which fresh undertakings were developed did he manifest 
the qualities of a great religious leader. It was chiefly due 
to his initiative that the American Baptist Board of Education 
was organized and its great task undertaken, and under his 
guidance in 1912 it became a part of the Northern Baptist Con- 
vention. His marvelous work in the schools and colleges for 
negroes in the South was one of his greatest achievements. 
In some ways he looked upon the organization of the Ministers 
and Missionaries Benefit Board as the culminating work of his 
life. 

Those who have known him in the meetings of the Board 
have admired his many-sided abilities. He had the vision of a 
statesman, he presen-ted no plan for the approval of the Board 
until he had thought it through and was able to give reasons 
for his recommendations. So strong was the confidence in 
his judgment that in most cases his recommendations were 
promptly and gladly accepted by the Board. At times, varying 
points of view and differences of judgment naturally arose. In 
every such case Doctor Morehouse remained the same self- 
controlled advocate. Nor did he cherish animosity if his views 
were not accepted. And yet he was not one to yield easily if he 
was convinced he was right. Occasionally he would ask for 
the matter under consideration to be postponed until it had 
been more thoroughly examined and he had had an opportunity 
to confer with those who opposed it. He was a diplomat of 
a high order and yet he never stooped to trickery. His ability 
to persuade men he considered simply a valuable asset bestowed 
upon him which he must conscientiously use for the cause he 
loved. 

He was singularly free from the spirit of self-seeking. He 
completely identified himself with his work. Ever convinced 
that right and justice ultimately must win, he lost all concern 
for himself except that he might be true in all his dealings. 
Never did he ask for honors, and frequently declined increases 
of salary proffered by the Board. Only when measures of im- 
portance were involved did he ever defend himself. 

He was intensely loyal to every missionary and employee of 
the Society. In spite of the strength of his convictions and 
the depth of his feeling he was great enough to forgive. Occa- 



240 HEJ^RY LYMAN MOREHOUSE 

sionally when he discovered that his confidence had been be- 
trayed his feeling was more of sorrow than anger. 

To the members of the Board he became a patriarch to whom 
almost unconsciously they gave the reverence that certain de- 
nominations demand for their highest ecclesiastical ofi&cials. His 
life had been a fountain of inspiration to the men who have 
known him and a lasting honor to the Baptist denomination, 
particularly to the American Baptist Home Mission Societj^ 
which he served faithfully for thirty-eight years. He was a 
rare executive, a statesman of wise and clear vision, a conse- 
crated and tireless worker, a devoted friend, and above all a 
Christian gentleman. The world is better because Henry L. 
Morehouse lived. 



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